The Sapphire Which Shone Amethyst
by IrisCode
Summary: After she saves Hoenn, Sapphire loses the gift she was born with. Steven vows to help her regain this and the pair travel to learn more about the origin of her gift so she can reclaim it. Although fate has an alternate idea for the two travelling companions.
1. The Sapphire Of The Mind

**A/N: This is my first Pokémon fic. But since I've been obsessed with this pairing i thought i ought to contribute my own story to the masses.**

**Enjoy! xD**

_Disclaimer: I only wish i owned Pokémon, or A Pokémon! Sadly this is not the case_

_**Warning!**_** I have taken a story-line from the Pokémon Adventures Manga (risky since I have not read it) and smushed it with logic adn stuff from ORAS, so mega evolution is possible for example ;)**

* * *

She watched as a green blur flew over her head. Waving for the Pokémon to come down, she grinned at her friend as he swooped towards her. He landed gracefully beside her, making very little noise on impact.

She'd known him since he was a little Trapinch, now he was a soaring Flygon, master of the earth. He now was brave, loyal and a very reliable ally to her, helping her out of more than a few sticky situations. Back then he was a shy little thing who scuttled away as fast as his little legs could take him at the first sign of danger.

"Can you round up the others? It's getting late and I want to set up camp." He nodded at her and leapt into the air once more.

Watching him for a second, before he was swallowed by the darkening sky, she thought of her adventure, her journey.

It'd been about eight years since she received her first Pokémon, a tiny Mudkip who seemed far too timid to battle the mildest Zigzagoon. She then had travelled the entire Hoenn region, slowly gaining new friends and earning herself all eight Gym Badges. Looking back, it seemed like a lifetime ago, walking down Route 101 for the first time, her blue companion toddling along beside her. He'd grown up fast, finding himself a mate and now lived in the bottom of the ocean alongside her, raising his family after settling down, while she still journeyed, showing no sign of settling in one area for longer than a few days.

Wallace, the leader of the final Gym, had advised her to challenge the Pokémon League. The League consisting of five elite trainers, four belonging to the fabled Elite Four, the final being the Champion, the strongest and most formidable trainer in the entire region, also a very close friend and ally to her for just under eight years now.

However, she hadn't wished to end her journey so suddenly. She wanted adventure, excitement and wished to know the region from top to bottom. So, her sights were set on completing the Pokédex, the index of Pokémon native to Hoenn.

She'd gotten to know Wallace too; he was often flamboyant and, taken in large doses, a little overwhelming. But he was also very kind-hearted and eager to help his friends and the Pokémon of the sea. He had given her a Feebas egg a few years back, after she had complimented his partner Milotic, he had given her a chance to raise her own. He was a great friend to her.

She wandered into a grassy clearing; Fortree City wasn't too far down the route. Although, she preferred sleeping under the stars, if only she could see them.

The subtle whispering in her mind was being held back with mental blocks as usual, when she slept in the Pokémon Center, surrounded by injured Pokémon and journeying trainers, she couldn't stop her psyche from wandering into minds where it didn't belong, or the shouting minds would overwhelm her and cause her sleep to be disjointed and stunted.

Out here, in the fresh air and surrounded by trees and free Pokémon made it easier for her to relax. She could block out the calm mental whispers by listening to the wind in the leaves that rustled and skittered across the treetops. She could hear now the shifting melody of the wind, creaks from far away swaying branches cracking along to this natural melody which framed the stunning landscape of nature perfectly. Additionally, the sploshing tinkles of the nearby river added a tinge of unpredictability to the whole symphony.

Flygon returned, his beating wings catching her attention immediately, once more he landed softly next to her.

_'They're on their way.' _He informed her. His soft inner voice calling loud in her own head. She used her gift to communicate with all Pokémon, using her powers to calm angered Pokémon and befriend frightened Pokémon. She was particularly attuned to her close friends, but if she focussed enough, she could find and hear her other, wider spread friends across the entire region.

"Thanks Phantom." She smiled, patting his shoulder. She had given him his nickname later than the others, for initially she didn't know what to name him, until she had returned to the desert where they'd first met and seen him in the sandstorm. It was difficult enough to see there for her anyway, but he had had this knack of simply vanishing in the sand. Making her believe he was an illusion, a mirage, but he had preferred Phantom to Mirage and so she called him that.

Their light footsteps rang to her now. Turning she could see her friends approaching. Often she would travel with different Pokémon, usually dependant on where she was travelling. But sometimes hr friends would want to pursue a certain strain of adventure that she wasn't interested in or would wish to find another Pokémon of their own species to befriend or so on. So her band of travel companions often differed. However, for the majority of the time, Phantom travelled with her.

Currently, she was travelling with Phantom, Silver (the white Metagross Steven had insisted she take with her on her journeys through Hoenn), Rune (an Absol, who had wished to be called Run, but she wasn't too keen on that name), Ignia (the female Ninetales, just as fiery as her name suggested, but got along well with Rune) and finally, a gentle splash signified that Mina (a female Milotic) had arrived in the river that ran past the clearing.

"There shouldn't be any need to set a fire, the night is warm." Sapphire squinted at the sky. "Are there any clouds?" She couldn't tell the sky had darkened so quickly there could well be a thick cloudy blanket suffocating the planet for all she knew.

_'None.' _All the Pokémon chorused.

"Thank you, then it should be fine to set up camp here." She set her large backpack down near a large tree, pulling pale blue blankets out of its depths. She laid these across the soft grass for the Pokémon to settle on, Mina drifted on the surface of the river, content to sleep in the water; she coiled in a bed made from mossy rocks and rested her head just at the right angle so she could see the rest of the group.

They all had eaten earlier, as they moved through the long route. It had been a peaceful day, only having met a few Rangers, who challenger her and fell before her Pokémon. Her current companions were those who had travelled with her the longest, they all had gained experience alongside each other for so long, there wasn't a challenger out there who could stand up to them. Well… Perhaps Steven could give them a run for their money, but Sapphire was content in simply travelling the region, she dreamed of travelling to other regions as well. She could see herself spending her whole life just hopping from one place to another, always seeking adventure.

Silver settled his four legs underneath his body and seemed to be comfortable, although Sapphire could not understand how. She had only recently found her love for Steel-type Pokémon, Silver and Shing (the name she had given a cute little Aron before he evolved into a formidable Aggron) had sparked her love for these shining Pokémon. The two of them had stood by her through thick and thin and could always be counted on as strong backup in a tough fight. Although Steel-types looked scary and were difficult to train and gain the trust of, they became the most loyal and trustworthy Pokémon in the end, once you put in enough effort to befriend them.

Rune and Ignia curled up beside one another and Phantom perched in the branches above Sapphire's head, he was always the last to fall asleep, he liked to keep watch over the group, even though, no matter who attacked them, Sapphire and her Pokémon were more than a match.

She picked up a thin blanket and sat, leaning against the trunk of the thick tree. Listening to the gentle thoughts of her friends around her, breathing in the deep earthy scent of her surroundings, the fresh smell of the water washing over her senses and calming her mind immediately. She drifted into a light, dreamless sleep.

* * *

She was woken by hurried footsteps, growing closer and closer. The steps were light, not tripping over tree roots or getting their feet stuck in the thick grass of the route. Looking up, she couldn't see Phantom, but she could hear his mind, it wasn't racing or worrying like it might if an enemy were approaching, it was confused, whoever was nearby Phantom knew but couldn't understand the rushed steps.

She stirred, groggily getting to her feet, trying to step out from under the tree, but tripping over her own bag, falling against someone tall and slender, "I finally found you!" came a very familiar voice, sounding relieved.

Waiting for her brain to wake up, she tried peering through the gloom to see who she had fallen against, who was the owner of the arms that had caught her and were now setting her back on her feet.

"I've been trying to call you on the PokéNav Plus! But I guess you've not heard it go off." The voice was now rushed, urgency tainting the soft male voice.

Her brain ticked, but as it awoke she heard not only the spoken words but a whirring rushed mind also. A very familiar brilliant mind at that.

"Steven?" She asked, rubbing her eyes and trying to see him.

"I'm sorry to wake you, but I need your help!" He continued. The stress in his mind and exigency in his tone finally woke her completely. She blinked away the shadows of sleep from her eyes.

"Yes, ok. What do you need?" The fuzzy feeling of waking had worn off; her mind was now sharp and alert ready for anything he could throw at her.

"Do you remember that cave we were in a while ago? The one with the strange bumps forming an ancient language on the walls?" He asked her, his words quick and his mind whirling faster than any wind could travel, darting from memory to plan to thought to hope that she recalled the _one _cave in hundreds.

She put up her mental barriers against his mind; it was making her head spin just by being close to him. But he usually had this effect on her, for various reasons.

Now it was silent in her head, she could think. They'd visited lots of caves, whenever Mr Stone needed to get in contact with Steven, he'd send a message to her on the PokéNav to pass to him, since the PokéNav didn't get signal from miles under the earth, usually where Steven could be found. So she had to go hunting down Steven in many dark caves.

"The one that we needed Mina's help to get into?" She asked for clarification, she did remember a strange cave where the entrance needed to be dived through to get into, the others couldn't follow as they couldn't swim.

"Yes! You said that you could read the language, but that you didn't understand how. Is that true?"

"Yes. It told a story about something that an ancient people feared yet worshiped I think." She attempted to remember the story, but it had gone from her mind.

She heard rummaging, like the contents of a particularly stone-filled bag being churned as something was searched for.

"I need to go soon, there's a big problem headed right for Sootopolis, but I need you to translate this for me! Tell me over the PokéNav what it says alright?" He pushed a large stone tablet into her hands, bumps and indents riddling its surface.

"Is this to do with the freak weather?" She asked, having heard on BuzzNav about torrential rainstorms broken by blasting sunlight.

"Yes! Can you do that for me?" He sounded unsure of her answer, even though she could and would only give him one answer.

"Yes of course." She heard him sigh in relief before a flash of light signified he'd released his own Metagross. Yes his Skarmory was a quick flier, but Metagross and his magnetism couldn't be beaten for speed.

"Thank you." He called as he flew away from her.

She released her mental blockade, no longer needing it as he was now leaving. Immediately, a mind-boggling flash of something taunted her mind. Something which left her afraid, rooted to the spot like a terrified child. But what could it have been? It had passed to quickly to analyse.

* * *

_More should be on its way shortly, I'm hoping people actually like this idea, its a little silly and far-fetched but it sprang to my mind and I couldn't help but write it._

_I am open to flames, constructive criticisms help and advice!_

_Hope you enjoyed and hope you stay on for the next chapter._

_Thank you for reading!_


	2. The Sapphire With A Plan!

**A/N: Hello again!**

**Hoping that this chapter is okay, i didn't expect to be updating quite so soon but i had time and it was just sitting in my documents so i thought why not! **

* * *

Frowning to herself she thought, what was wrong? Something niggled in the back of her mind as she felt the tactile words under her fingertips. Some of the words had faded slightly, but she could still tell what they said. There still was that feeling in her head, that something wasn't right, that she'd missed something obvious and incredibly important.

The others had woken and had been active for a few hours now; they'd packed up camp and were on the move again, heading for Lilycove City.

"Phantom," She turned to the Flygon who was gliding low to the ground next to her, "was Steven wearing the cape? I didn't see it, but I thought it was customary to wear it at all times? Or am I mistaken?" She ruffled her eyebrows, trying to think clearly, but something still pressed against her temples, demanding her attention.

_'No, he was not wearing the white cape.' _The Flygon answered, looking at her. _'Do you think there's something wrong?' _There it was Phantom understood her mind better than she did, and it was such a crowded and messy thing that sometimes she was relieved that at least _he _understood it.

"Yes, and it's something about this tablet, there are the raised words yes, but also indents, I think they spell a warning but I can't quite figure it out." Her head pounded, she perhaps was thinking too hard, but she couldn't stop simply because of a headache.

Though she had been warned as a child, her powers were not meant for a human to possess and so a human's body can only take so much mental strain. She should contain her powers more than she did otherwise it may damage her brain permanently.

She stopped walking, pressing her fingertips down a little harder to try and read the encrypted message. It was indeed the same pattern language, just this time instead of raised dots; it was indents, which were quite a lot harder to read than the raised message.

She dropped the plate when she read it. The stone bouncing on the thick grass at her feet, making a soft thudding noise as it settled. Her companions stared at the stone settled in the emerald grasses before looking to her face, which had grown a little paler than usual, her eyes scrunched shut.

Her eyes flew open wide as her mind raced through every plan she could piece together. Within seconds she had a plan placed precariously together. She only hoped that this was indeed the plan Steven had intended to follow and that she could pull it off quickly.

"Rune, Ignia, stay together, but I'm sorry, you can't follow us, sadly we don't have the time to get a boat out to where we need to be. Look after each other okay? And if you can, meet us at Sootopolis tomorrow morning alright?"

Her eyes conveyed to the two Pokémon addressed that this could not be compromised and she was desperate for them to agree and quickly, her gaze seemed to count down the time they had. So the two nodded their heads, but then remembering she couldn't see them, they thought in unison _'We will.'_

She picked up the stone, pushing it into her backpack roughly, squashing everything else down so it would fit. Turning to the other two Pokémon by her side. "Mina said she'd meet us in the sea off Lilycove, we need to meet up with her before we can continue." She shrugged the backpack onto her back once more; it was now an odd shape due to the cramped conditions inside it.

_'What did it say?" _Silver asked, trying to dig into her mind to get his answer. She had never minded him sifting through her mind; it was his nature as a Psychic-type after all. Very often they'd mentally wrestle to see who was the most psychically gifted, he often won, but she had had a few victories that he'd given her.

"Not now! We need to hurry and call Royal and Remmy!" She hopped onto Silver's back, crossing her legs and resting her hands on the tops of his front legs. "Keep up Phantom!" She called as Silver shot into the air and sped towards the rushing sea. Phantom was indeed fast, but, like Steven's Metagross, Silver could use his magnetism to push from the Earth and speed around it easily.

She'd ridden him a lot throughout the years they'd known one another, once he'd become a strong Metagross he could take her anywhere within moments. He used his own psychic powers to ensure she didn't go flying off or the pressure of the rushing wind or gravity would harm her. Even still, every time they flew she still gripped his front legs tightly, constantly shocked on how fast he could indeed fly.

* * *

It took them about five minutes to shoot to Lilycove, most of that time was spent finding a good place to land on the beach of Lilycove, Mina was indeed already there, basking in the warm shallows, the strong sunlight making her smooth scales glimmer spectacularly.

"Mina, we need to go to the undersea cave, the one with the sealed chamber. Remember?" The serpentine Pokémon nodded. The pulsating beats of scorching sunlight glistened off her scales. "I need you to meet me there. Can you swim there as fast as you can? I'll call Royal and Remmy; they need to meet us there also." The serpent of the sea nodded once more, before diving into the cool depths of the sea.

She looked at the sky, rolling black clouds moved unnaturally across the sky, blotting out the harsh sunlight even as she watched the heavens opened their flood gates. The rain slammed into the sea, the usual pitter-patter of the gentle rain that Hoenn usually saw was replaced by a constant roar of freezing rain.

She was instantly soaked to her bones, Phantom wasn't much pleased at the drastic weather change as he tried to shake the water from his wings.

"Right," She pushed her dark, sopping hair from her eyes, "Silver, once Mina, Royal, Remmy and I are finished, three caves should open around Hoenn, can you search for them as fast as a bullet and report back to me when you've found all three. Is this alright with you?" She could barely see the shining white metallic creature; the dark clouds were severely limiting the natural light of the sun as they consumed the sky.

Silver took one look into her desperate sapphire eyes and decided that the situation was too serious to ask pointless questions. He agreed to her order and once again launched into the air.

"Phantom you remember where the place is don-" Her sentence was cut short by the green Pokémon, who grasped her and leapt off the beach, into the cold, rain-soaked sky. He tossed her from his grip, only so that she could land on his back instead, where she was easier to carry.

While they flew, Sapphire scoured the seas with her mind, looking into every nook and cranny. The seas of Hoenn were vast and thousands of Pokémon lived within their depths, but tow particular minds beckoned her like flaming beckons in the darkness.

Her psyche located the two minds she searched for. They weren't far from one another; both were in the seas just southeast of Sootopolis City. _'PLEASE MEET ME AND MINA IN THE SEAS WEST OF PACIFIDLOG! IT'S AN EMERGENCY!'_ She called to them, knowing that they would hear her.

"Phantom, when we fly over Sootopolis, could you tell me what you see? I want to know what's happening to make Steven want to go through with this and what could cause this awful weather." She spoke, her voice almost being snatched away by the howling wind and walloping rain.

He could now see the white mountain surrounding the city. Phantom flew low over the pretty place and slowed his pace to take in what was happening there. Then he suddenly swooped up and sped up dramatically.

_'It's not good. It looks like two super-ancient Pokémon are fighting down there, in the middle of the city. One is a sapphire Pokémon of the sea and the other a ruby Pokémon of the land. They seem not to have fully awoken yet and so their powers aren't what they could be.' _His voice was clear but she could feel his fear, these super-ancient Pokémon must be extremely strong if no one could stop them from entering Sootopolis.

"And yet they're causing such harsh weather conditions! Let's not wait around for these two to wake up fully!" They had passed into another spell of beating sunlight, she could feel Phantom tiring quickly under these harshest of conditions, but he battled on, not willing to admit he was struggling. She herself could feel the water that had drenched her evaporate, almost hearing the steam sizzle from her as her clothing and hair dried rapidly.

* * *

They arrived at their desired location, a spot above a deep part of the ocean, riddled with fast currents and jagged rocks scattered everywhere. Three water dwelling Pokémon waited for them in a calm patch surrounded by rushing currents.

Sapphire took off her backpack, pushing quickly through its contents before bringing out her Devon Scuba Gear and fixing it on her head. This item like many others had been a gift from Steven; she smiled briefly at a warm memory that flitted into her mind. After quickly zipping the pack back up, she slipped off Phantom's back and splashing down besides Mina who circled around her, protecting her from the harsh currents. "Go take a rest Phantom!" She called up, seeing him flying away in response.

She held onto Mina, who took her down under the waves to enter the sealed chamber once again; Remmy and Royal were following swiftly and without question.

When they surfaced in the cave, Sapphire clambered onto the flat stone flooring, walking through the maze of pillar-like stones littering the dim room. She wandered to one of the stones, feeling its surface moving from one to another, she pieced everything together.

LONG DID WE LIVE HERE IN THIS CAVE.  
ALL THANKS TO THE POWERFUL POKEMON LIVING ALONGSIDE US.  
YET, WE SEALED THAT POKEMON AWAY, ALONE IN THE DARK.  
WE FEARED IT.  
IF YOU HAVE THE COURAGE, IF YOU STILL HOLD TO HOPE,  
OPEN THE DOOR. FOR BEYOND IT THE ETERNAL POKEMON WAITS.

She reached a stone at the back of the cave, it did not give another part of the tale, it simply said:

DIG HERE.

"Great." She sighed, despairing at the fact that Phantom couldn't accompany her down here. She sat on the ground, crossing her legs and searching the region again, she hated this, wasting time doing this, but it was necessary.

She wasn't the type to dig, Steven dug all the time she knew, while he looked for rare stones, but she had never had patience enough for it, she loved seeing the stones, they were beautiful, but finding them took a special patience that she did not possess.

* * *

Minutes passed after she had sent her message and received an answer, she started tapping her foot in impatience, and the world could have perished up there for all she knew.

Suddenly, an Alakazam materialised in the chamber, Phantom accompanying him.

The green dragon flew swiftly towards her, diving into the wall with ease. A crashing rumble broke the silence of the sealed chamber and an entrance opened.

Phantom led her into the second room, directing her to another wall with the same tactile script on its surface:

FIRST COMES RELICANTH LAST COMES WAILORD

"Sage, can you help me get Royal and Remmy in here?" She asked the powerful Psychic-type Pokémon, who nodded and began glowing faintly as he used his powers to levitate the two sea Pokémon.

Remmy, the little Relicanth was easy to get through the entrance into the second, much large room, but Royal, the gigantic Wailord would never fit through the entrance. Sage had to teleport him through it.

The room immediately rumbled once she'd organised the four Pokémon into a line with Remmy at one end and Royal at the other. Distant crashes could be heard. Somehow they were loud and clear in this strange room even though they all could tell that these crashes were from locations miles and miles across Hoenn.

"Right, that's us done here, Sage could you take Royal and Remmy back to the open sea and then come back?" Three Pokémon vanished in a flash, then Sage returned. "Thank you, could you now please take Phantom to Slateport? I'll be there shortly. Then you may do as you please." She smiled kindly to her powerful ally.

* * *

_Thank you for reading! I hope you are enjoying the story so far!_


	3. The Sapphire's Lament

She and Mina came to the shore to the east of Slateport City in only a few minutes; the quick currents took them here at top speed. When Sapphire reached dry land she found both Phantom and Silver waiting for her.

"Have you found them already?" She asked, taken aback by his speed, she knew of course, that he was fast, but locating three places after minutes of them being open was quite a feat.

_'You doubted me?' _He said, a little indignantly.

"Not in the slightest. Shall we go? Thank you very much Mina, please meet us at Sootopolis in the morning." She hugged the serpent fondly before the Pokémon dove back into the deep sea.

Then she approached the green dragon, taking off her bag. The dragon looked at her, curious as to her full plan and why she wanted everyone to be in Sootopolis in the morning. The Ground-Dragon stared into the sky, seeing that the sun was setting, glazing the sky with a ruby and amber sheen of fiery light.

"Can you hold onto this for me?" Sapphire held out the dark blue bag to the Pokémon. He took it in his hands, the weight of the bag meaningless to the strong Pokémon. "I'd like you to meet us in Sootopolis City as well, and see if you can find Rune and Ignia, just to check they're alright." The Pokémon was forced to hold the backpack in one hand as the girl embraced him tightly. It was brief but filled with emotions that he couldn't place. "Goodbye for now, my friend."

* * *

Steven stood in Sootopolis, staring in wonder at the two super-ancient Pokémon, who were fighting one another in the middle of the city. The usually glassy-still waters were disturbed, frequently splashing up onto the little island where the Gym, its former Leader and he stood.

Kyogre, the sapphire-blue sea dwelling legend, dived under the sea in an attempt to pass under Groudon to encroach further into the city. However, the ruby-red giant raised its head and roared a pillar of earth rose up out of the water, Kyogre trapped within it, until, a burst of pure water burst through the earth, splashing up against Groudon.

"They're fighting over the pure energy that pools in the Cave Of Origin." His teal-haired friend informed Steven. "The victor will claim the power and then, rather drown the world, or cause a huge-scale drought. What can we do now? We must stop them before they achieve their goals!" Night had set in now, the deep dark sky dotted with twinkling stars who watched the Pokémon fiercely battle below them.

Steven crossed his arms, and then moved one hand up to his chin. He needed Sapphire to decipher the tablet then he could release the golems and use them to subdue the super-ancient Pokémon. He felt no fear for what he had to do, no twinge of regret in his stomach as he glanced at Wallace, shrouded in the Champion's white cape begrudgingly. He was glad he could leave the championship to someone as reliable as Wallace. He would have left it to Sapphire, but he knew she'd never accept and would not like having the responsibility of the Champion.

He heard his PokéNav ringing shrilly. He yanked it out of his pocket, checking who was calling him, only hoping to hear from… "Sapphire!" He answered swiftly. "Have you translated the tablet?"

"Yes of course I have." Wallace overheard the girl's response; he could also hear wind blowing through the device, as though she was flying somewhere rather breezy. He liked her; she was an energetic and eager young lady. She had completely flattened his team of elegant Water-types easily a good few years back, he was still waiting for a rematch with her. She had a way with Pokémon that he hadn't seen very often in someone as young as her.

"Tell me what it said!" Steven urged, still watching the powerful Pokémon battle with increasing ferocity. Kyogre was now being enveloped in lava and being pelted by shrapnel from bursting boulders crashing down from the sky.

"No." He was shocked, staring at the PokéNav in horror. "No, Steven, I know what you're planning and I know what it'll mean, the tablet warned of the consequences of attempting to wield the power of all three of those Pokémon. I can't allow you to do that and take that risk, no, that _fall_." Her voice was soft; the rushing wind had stopped, replaced by a gentle whoosh of calming winds.

"Sapphire this is no time for that! I've made up my mind; the whole world will be saved if I do this!" He pushed, needing her to understand that this was necessary. Wallace tugged at Steven's sleeve, but Steven pushed his friend's hand away, the new Champion was staring at the stars as though they would save the world.

"I never said I would let the world perish!" Her response was hurt, hurt that he would think she would let the world die around her.

Wallace tried getting his attention once again, but again he turned away. "Then what? We can't fight them without Pokémon! Sapphire, what are you planning?"

"Look up." Was her only response before she hung up the call.

He did so. His gaze following Wallace's shocked stare. His shining silver eyes widening in horror as he saw what his friend had been trying to show him. "No."

The three golems had taken up positions on the top of the remaining mountainside, staring down into the hollow where the city sat snugly. Each was an equal distance from the raging Pokémon, a curious light connecting each of them to f dark shape in the sky directly above the two legendaries fighting in the city.

The trails of icy-blue, deep brown and steel grey energy streamed from the three golems into Sapphire, perched once again on her friend Silver's back. Her own psychic energy was building with the added strength of the golems; it glowed around her pulses of deep purple.

She stood, balancing on his back, before she stepped off into the night air. Instead of plummeting like she ought to have, she glided slowly down, her arms by her side; her hair and blue bandanna were ruffled by the gentle caress of the passing winds.

The super-ancient Pokémon ceased their battle, both having noticed the girl, still connected to the golems by the coloured streams of energy, enveloped in purple light. Her eyes were closed tight. She came to a halt, hovering a few feet from the settling surface of the water. Her hair billowed around her face, disrupted from settling by the waves of power which emanated from her.

Then, suddenly her eyes opened, a deep purple light spilled out from them. Her arms slowly raised, one extended to each of the legendary Pokémon as though readying herself for a handshake from the goliaths.

"What is going on?" Wallace's mouth fell open as he watched the spectacle unfold. He had known her for years, but what was happening to her now?

"She's trying to make friends with them!" Steven gasped at how idiotic his best friend was being. Yes, he had seen her act this way when dealing with frightened Pokémon, she offered them her hand and calmed them quickly, but there was no way that these two Pokémon would ever calm down and go back to their slumber, not now, now when their powers were awakening again and the smell of the pure energy from the Cave Of Origin was so close by. Even sensing her power was waking them up into frenzy.

Kyogre sent a Hydro Pump directly towards her, aiming for the side of her chest. Groudon used a powerful Rock Slide, making enormous boulders appear from nowhere, crashing down towards her.

Silver made to dive down to protect her.

_'No! Silver land in front of the Gym. Do not get involved!' _She sent her message to him before the attacks collided with the pulse of amethyst light, being sent into a loop around her. The water and boulders kept circling her, the blue liquid eventually evaporating and the boulders bursting into dust and floating away on the breeze.

Her head was going to explode! The pressure was so great that she could no longer see anything; the blackness would have been horrifying if she couldn't hear and sense everything around her. She could feel her friends around her, she knew that Silver had indeed floated over to the island and begrudgingly landed just behind Steven and Wallace. She could feel the angry, startled legends on either side of her. But she could also feel the numbness spreading up her legs. The enormous strain on her mind and body was becoming far more noticeable, she knew she couldn't last much longer.

Regardless, she focussed on what was important right now, calming the legends. Mentally, she grasped the swirling energy inside of her, taming it and manipulating it. The wild purple power within her pooled in her chest, her visible amethyst shield vanishing into her.

She threw her head back as she pushed outwards. The rolling wave of calming energy burst from her chest, washing over her arms, enveloping the raging Pokémon, causing their anger to numb drastically.

It had some affect! They were a little less vicious! Their heads lowered as their minds were slowly unclouded from the aggravation that had forced them to fight.

She heard the mental voices of Steven and Wallace as her psychic powers ran rampant. Hearing their thoughts once more made her smile, they were safe, and she would make sure they would stay safe! All she needed to do was focus for a little longer.

Pushing her mind once again, she sent another rolling wave to further calm the two giants.

Steven watched as repeated amethyst waves washed over the two Pokémon. After each, Sapphire's face became more and more strained and pale. Yet, despite she was in obvious pain, she still smiled, a wide and true smile of joy. What had she seen? What made her happy? A sphere surrounded the three figures, the two enormous Pokémon and the skinny girl between them; it glowed and sparkled like a magnificent gemstone.

His arms were shaking as he watched helplessly as she was killing herself. "Sapphire stop! Stop before you can't!" He heard himself yelling.

The sphere vanished suddenly, her wide eyes had returned to their usual deep blue, they didn't shine in the dim light as they usually did, but regardless of this, they were still the eyes he loved so much.

Her hovering position and concentration was shot, as she fell backwards into the water, her eyes closed.

Kyogre vanished into the water; Groudon stomped on the floating lava he stood upon, storming away from the city.

Steven turned to Silver, hopping onto the white Metagross' back, resting his feet on the metallic monster's front-left leg.

The Pokémon did not need Steven's urgent voice to make him shoot forward, hovering over the water where Sapphire had fallen, and the ripples still visible around the glass water.

Steven went to dive in, but the surface below them shattered, droplets flying in all directions as Mina surfaced, her body wrapped around Sapphire's sodden one.

The Pokémon lifted her as best she could, Steven cradled her and Silver took them both back to the small island where the Gym and Wallace were situated, Mina swam along after them.

The golems, having fulfilled their agreement with Sapphire, vanished off to their cave-homes now that the super-ancient Pokémon had been dealt with.

The dawn was close, the sky to the east was brightening, and dim rays of light illuminated her ghostly pale face as she was carefully laid on the soft grass in front of the Gym.

"Sapphire, why did you do that?" Steven was crouched over; Wallace knelt on the other side of her. Silver stood near her feet, trying to feed her psyche so her mind wouldn't fail her, he wanted to save her, but her mind was falling into shadows that he couldn't' fight away.

"S-So you didn't have to get your-" She breathed quickly and shallowly, her voice weak, "-yourself killed."

Her sight wavered, the pure blackness fading into dim shapes. Shapes turned into blurred faces, then indistinguishable features finally turned into silver hair and shining eyes.

She stared for a long time, she had seen him many times yes, had heard about his good looks and his dazzling eyes, but she'd never seen it for herself. In this one moment, when her mind was silent, her sight seemed far better than it had ever been before.

Her face lit up in a beaming smile, she didn't care about the pains streaking through her entire being, or the pounding headache that was splitting her skull, all she cared about was seeing his face for the first and last time. She drank everything in, her eyes scanning his face, but finally settling on his shockingly silver eyes.

Wallace stood up, moving away to let them have a moment of privacy, he moved to Mina, patting her head and praising her for rescuing Sapphire from the water. Silver followed him, floating to the edge of the island still attempting to fight of her mental demons.

Steven lifted Sapphire, cradling her in his arms, just wanting to hold her close to him, to hopefully help her hold onto life.

She leaned her head into him, not taking her sapphire eyes away from his own.

"I- Steven, I," He held her closer, so her small voice could be heard, he brushed her wet hair from her face, so he could see her features, "I finally can see your face." He looked at her, seeing small tears loiter around the corners of her beautiful eyes. "I always wanted to truly see your face. I-It's always been a mystery to me what you looked like." A shaky hand moved to his cheek, cupping it gently.

He felt dampness threaten his own eyes. "Don't leave me," He was helpless, he could see her suffering yet there was nothing he could do about it. He hated not being able to do anything, he needed to help, and he needed to think, think dammit! Think of a solution!

The pale green tinged morning sky was visible past Steven's face. She watched a diamond tear form in his eye, but as it started rolling down his cheek, she used a soft fingertip to gently brush it away.

"Wh-When I was in the caves, I looked, thinking it'd be interesting if I could find you a precious stone." Her smile glowed with the morning sun. "I found one in the v-very last cave," She feebly rummaged through her pocket with her free hand. She placed it into his jacket pocket. "I want you to take it. Silver helped me find it, he said it looked like my-" Spasms rocked her body, snatching away the last word of her sentence, her eyes, which had only just regained the gem-like shine, were closing slowly.

"Shh. Don't talk, it'll be okay!" He clutched her shoulders, trying to hold onto her life, to prevent her from leaving him.

"Yeah, it'll be okay Steven," She seemed to try reassuring him, turning the tables completely. She shuffled her position to move that little bit closer to him. "I'll stay with you." Her fingertips brushed away a few more of his tears, he clasped her hand in his, holding it against his cheek and squeezing it gently.

His eyes widened as she captured his lips. Her kiss was warm, her lips trembling slightly. He could feel her warm breath on his face. One of his tears rolled from his now closed eyes and leaped down, to land on her cheek.

Footsteps landed around them, their brief moment of bliss faded as their lips parted. He felt cold now, as though by parting from her he had been plunged into icy waters.

Her friends had landed around them. Rune had used his Mega Stone to fly here, Ignia, who had her backpack clasped in her maw, was being carried by Phantom.

"I'll be here with everyone, so long-so long as you don't forget about me…" She couldn't hear her friends' minds anymore; she could only see them around her through her lashes. Silver and Wallace approached again. Mina pulled herself onto the land and slithered closer.

Steven lowered his head in despair.

"That sounded awfully cheesy didn't it." She whispered shaky laughter accompanying her final words.

Leaning her head into his shoulder, she sighed and closed her eyes fully, falling into an eternal slumber in Steven Stone's embrace.

"Sapphire?" He looked at her face, and then touched her neck, feeling for her pulse but finding nothing but still lifelessness.

The gathered Pokémon were briefed on what had happened by Silver quickly. All of them were now crying, in varying degrees of severity, Mina had returned to the water, sinking beneath the sea level so her tears would mingle with the saltwater around her, Ignia and Rune sat beside one another, leaning heavily against each other and crying silently. Silver let a few tears roll down his metallic face, but held his emotions in check, Phantom tired the exact same thing, yet he couldn't manage it and the tears burst from him without warning.

Wallace was stood nearby, not entirely sure what to do. Eventually he walked forward, brushing tears from his eyes. He stopped nearby, blowing a kiss to Sapphire, "Goodnight, and may you rest in peace, Sapphire, who shone brightest of all."

Steven clutched her closely, unwilling to let her go. "She needn't have died. If she just had let me take care of things, then-"

"You would be dead and she'd be left crying over your body." Wallace said, bluntly pointing out the truth. "There was no way to win this fight. She knew that, you also knew it." He took the white champion's cloak from his shoulders and placed it back onto Steven's.

"It shouldn't have ended like this." Steven argued with his friend, trying to shrug the cloak from his shoulders, not wishing to deal with its weight right at that moment.

"You're right, this is the ending that no one wanted, but sadly," Wallace looked down at the departed girl's shell, frowning deeply. "It's the one we got. Let us move her inside." He gestured to the empty Gym.

Steven lifted her; she was light, even in death. But before he could take a step, her body broke; it shattered into millions of amethyst gems of energy, which raced in a line towards the sky. He watched as they went, vanishing into the morning sun. He had thought that, after last night's events, nothing about that girl would surprise him, but he now stood flabbergasted as her remains twinkled one final time before the sun claimed them.

Steven stood now, in his dark, empty house, surrounded by memories of times she had visited. The time she had admired the stones, the time she had stayed for dinner, when she had received Beldum from him, countless times when she had just popped in for a short chat. He switched on a nearby light, the harsh yellow light piercing the darkness, attempting to keep the shadows of depression at bay.

He felt something hard press against his heart, looking down he placed a hand into his pocket, drawing out a stone, the one she had placed there. It was small, perfectly fitting into the palm of his hand. Its surface a deep blue, the same colour as her brilliant eyes. As he inspected the Sapphire, it caught the lamplight, and the shine, instead of being white or pale blue, was deep purple, the colour of an amethyst.

He smiled sadly at the gem in his palm, it was beautiful and unique, the perfect thing for her to give him to remember her by. He raised it so it was inches from his eyes, "I'll see you again someday. Sapphire."

* * *

**I still have ideas for this story, so even though this seems final i have a lot of explaining left to do.**

**People are actually reading this! THANK YOU! **

**If you have the time, please leave me a review, just so i know your thoughts, you may spot aspects that i've missed and need to improve on! Thanks again! Until next time :)**


	4. An Amethyst From The Past

All she knew now was the hazy nothingness she was now floating through. Was this death? Or was she forever doomed to stay in this strange limbo?

Her mind fuzzed as she tried to remember. Pain, she remembered pain, wait, what's pain? She felt nothing now; half-formed thoughts floated alongside her, her mind whirred but didn't go anywhere, just circled around some forgotten words that she needed to remember, _now!_

Blackness became white, but how did she know what this was? Pain again, she still didn't know what it was, but she remembered the word, pain, it was etched into her mind, was that how she'd died? But she remembered something more, something warm and fuzzy, or perhaps just the words 'warm' and 'fuzzy'.

"Sapphire, look at me." A soft female voice commanded. The language she spoke was not familiar to Sapphire, but her words made sense.

She turned, seeing a brunette woman wearing a white dress facing her. Who could she be?

Then, the floodgates of her memory burst. Scenes and faces, creatures and water, rocks and stones all tumbled into her head as she reeled, trying to organise her thoughts. Certain faces and creatures appeared multiple times, perhaps she had known them?

Yes! It was returning to her now! She had died in Sootopolis City, trying to calm Kyogre and Groudon!

"Where am I?" Her voice was strong; she demanded an answer from this woman.

"A world of spirits and wandering souls." The woman's eyes were a deep purple, the colour of an amethyst. This woman's answer answered nothing; it made Sapphire more curious as to where she was.

A faint memory tickled her mind.

* * *

_A tall man was watching her, they both sat at a table which was strewn with multi-coloured stones and objects. His face was blurred. He held out a small stone._

_"This is an amethyst Sapphire; I found it while I was digging in Granite Cave a few years ago." She took the jewel carefully in her fingertips and examined it. Its surface was smooth and it shone in the light cast down by a nearby lamp. The gemstone was nearly clear, she could see distorted outlines and shadows of the table behind the gem and the stones spread across it._

_"It's beautiful." She sighed, handing the stone back to the silver-haired man._

_"Yes, it is." His voice was warm; she could tell from it that he was smiling fondly at her. Setting it amongst it's fellows he picked up a green stone next. "This is an emerald," He handed her the next stone._

* * *

"So I did die?" She asked the woman after blinking away the memory. The brief happiness it brought her was blotted out by the mystery of the strange place she now was trapped in.

"Yes and no. Your soul and body is currently energy." The woman gestured to her with a pale hand.

"Who are you? How do you know me?" She was sick of the riddles this woman seemed so fond of spinning.

"I was once a human, a living human. My people and I lived in a sealed cave for many years; a cave-in sent us to the bottom of the ocean when we had been exploring a dark cave when we were only young." The woman's eyes glazed over in memory, but Sapphire seemed to know this story already. "We panicked for a short time, thinking we were all going to die in that dark place. We dug with our hands into the walls and floors, trying to escape."

Sapphire was lost in memory; she knew a sealed chamber, a dark place where primal fear had bubbled through her.

"Eventually, an opening appeared, in a second chamber stood a gigantic Pokémon we had never seen before. It was a very powerful idol to us. We worshipped it and it granted us life and power, we would have perished there if it were not for this Pokémon of immense power. But we feared it. It could easily take that life from us, and we would have no way to prevent it."

A strange language blossomed into Sapphire's mind, a dotted language of patterns ciphering words onto stone walls of a dark place she had visited twice.

"We had engraved our story onto the walls, creating a tactile language which could be scribed onto the stone and be found in later generations. We created this language in order to deter the foolhardy or those who would wish to wake the Pokémon for evil purposes. One would have to master the lost language in order to learn the secrets held in the past."

"Then why could I understand it without studying it? Surely a language like that would need focus and patience to learn." Sapphire interjected, wanting to know the answer to the question which had rung through her mind since her and… Someone had entered the sealed chamber for the first time. Who had she been with? A face swam to the front of her mind, a man's face, piercing silver eyes shone under matching coloured hair.

"After we had escaped the cave and sealed the Pokémon far away, alone and in the dark. I, much later, made a deal with a Pokémon who could master all the types. I asked it to seal my knowledge and powers away until the time when the Pokémon of the land and sea awoke and threatened the Earth once more. My people had seen the destruction that those Pokémon had brought about and I knew that I could help prevent it from happening again if I could pass on my knowledge."

This had confused Sapphire, what exactly was this woman saying? How long ago did this happen?

"I am part of an ancient people. We were able to psychically communicate with Pokémon, thanks to the great Pokémon who granted us life in that cave. Also we had the ability to use telekinesis like a Psychic-type Pokémon. Our powers were fabled, but we were feared and hunted. This all happened thousands of years ago. My people were sent to fight in a great war, they could use their powers to calm the enemy Pokémon, making them less willing to fight, our intentions had always been pacifistic, and we did not wish to harm or take life." The woman sighed, "I had stayed behind, to watch over our home on a white mountain surrounded by seas. I later received word that my people had all perished in a terrible accident. Which was no accident. It was the actions of a selfish king who sacrificed his people and his enemies to gain power. That was when I prayed to this Pokémon, revered as a deity. It agreed to my request and vowed that when my knowledge was needed, a child of great potential would be born, that child would be able to use a small portion of my power and would have knowledge enough to prevent a tremendous disaster from befalling the world if the ancient Pokémon awoke again."

Sapphire's mind was spinning, trying to place the pieces together, but the jigsaw had become overly complicated and she was losing the picture. "So, so I'm the child?" She frowned deeply, the unexpected picture being revealed to her.

"You were born with psychic powers that a normal human could not possess, your eyesight was clouded to prevent visual images from overloading your mind as you learned to control your powers properly, but you never did."

"I know how to use them!" Sapphire defended herself, feeling indignant that this woman, who didn't even _know _her, was passing judgement on her so quickly.

"You are still a child! You couldn't hope to _imagine_ the things my people were capable of after we had matured."

"I'm eighteen! I'm not a child!" She felt anger bubbling inside her, this woman was treating her like a silly toddler.

"I have existed over 3,100 years; you are still a child in my eyes and the eyes of my people. If you had focussed on training your mind, your eyesight would have cleared and you wouldn't have struggled with life as much as you did."

Sapphire made to argue further, argue that she never struggled she adapted. It was the age-old argument that she used whenever someone tried to help her without her wanting to be aided.

The white-clad woman held up her hand to silence the impending argument, "I have watched over you your whole life, I know how much you struggled and kept it to yourself, how you, when alone would be constantly worried, panicking about what you couldn't see." Her eyes were soft now, "However, you did rise to the challenge of protecting the world better than I had expected you to. Even though you're primary motive was that boy. You performed your duty admirably. You now have a choice."

Shapes loomed out of the white mist. The woman held her arms out, signalling to Sapphire that these were her two options.

"You can pass on into paradise, where your spirit will remain in eternal happiness," The woman gestured to the pale golden door to her left, which solidified in front of Sapphire's eyes, "or you may return to the world of whence you came." A silver door appeared to the woman's right. "You will resume your life, your body and mind will form from the energy it left behind and you can live out your life. Your psychic powers however, will not return as you used all you had stored while facing Groudon and Kyogre, if they were to return your mind would snap." She dropped her arms, not giving Sapphire any indication of which option was the better of the two.

"That seems a decent deal to return to my life. Would I be able to see?" Sapphire blinked, her gaze not leaving the silver door which reminded her of many happy moments. No matter the answer to this question, she would take that option.

"Yes."

"Then I'm going back. My choice is made." She walked forward, reaching out her hand, taking the doorknob and turning it, pushing the door open, revealing a bright, shining silver light behind it.

"Sapphire, thank you. And enjoy the rest of your life."

Sapphire stepped into the blinding light.

* * *

**A/N: A shorter chapter today, hence the double update! I hope you've enjoyed this fic so far! :D **

**Feel free to criticize this story, I want to know the good and the bad so I can edit my style accordingly.**

**Thanks for reading!**


	5. The Emerald Of A New Dawn

Falling! She was falling through ruby red clouds that burned her retinas!

Blinking she felt the air rush past her, she couldn't see the ground anywhere, her brunette hair was waving wildly behind her and she plummeted, face-first down through puffy red and pink clouds. Spreading her arms did nothing to slow her rapid pace, although it was frightening, the adrenalin of freefalling rushed through her body, glazing the terrifying experience with a sweet ecstasy.

As she descended, the clouds darkened, eventually changing to a dark purplish blue. A streak of bright green and gold broke the blanket of blue, and then something was flying beside her, her eyes caught sight of an emerald serpent with golden patterns decorating his body.

It's long body curved through the air with extreme ease, it reached for her, she took its hands hoping it could help her out of this mess possibly, setting her down on solid ground.

Her falling slowed, until she came to a halt, dangling from this creature's hands. Her breathing was quick and panicked, the few moments they were still she worked on slowing her breath.

"Thank you!" She called, relieved and her breathing was finally even.

The Pokémon peered at her through it's golden eyes. It's tail weaved under her, allowing her to perch on it's back. Doing so she leaned close to it's body and wrapped her arms around it's serpent frame.

They were falling again, no, _flying_! It flew with great speed and grace.

She could now see open seas below them, the rushing waves flying past at great haste. They were approaching land, having first lowered to a decent altitude; they sped towards the cluster of islands off the mainland.

There was a small, but highly familiar island ahead, the great green Pokémon rushed towards it. Slowing it's quick pace, it gestured to her with a movement of it's body that she should jump from it when it got close enough to the ground, and it had no plans of stopping.

"Alright, thank you again." She gave the Pokémon a squeeze before she unwrapped her arms and braced herself.

They swooped over a beach; thick sand dunes were what she needed to aim for they were soft enough to cushion her landing. She slipped her leg from its back and landed in the largest, softest, dune on the beach, sending sand and stones flying around her. She rolled across the beach until her momentum died and she came to rest, in a pool of water lapping against a rocky hill.

"Ouch!" She complained that wasn't quite as smooth or awesome as she had imagined it could be. Scrambling to her feet swaying slightly as she did, she cleared her mind and began walking towards the city known to her, half the beach still attached to her clothes, hair and skin.

It was dark; twilight had set in early as dark grey clouds threatened to unleash their watery fury over the land.

Her body shook with dying adrenalin and the cold; she was filthy, freezing and really hoping _he_ was home.

She avoided heading into town, heading for a house set aside from all the rest. When she reached it, she raised her hand to knock, her legs shaking now, the rush of adrenalin had worn off, now she was feeling exhausted and like she'd just fallen hundreds of miles and torn up a beach.

She knocked lightly barely hearing the noise it made. "Please be home."

* * *

Steven had been withdrawn. Spending all his time in this house than he used to. Wallace had had to take over the championship for the time being, as Steven had become more reclusive than ever, this time hiding behind his own four walls instead of deep caverns and stone hunting to get away from people.

He'd spent months examining the strange stone that was the last gift Sapphire had given him. He couldn't understand why it shone like it did. There was no trace of a purple hue in the perfect little gem, yet it still shone with a deep amethyst shade.

Wallace stopped by many times, making sure Steven was still alive and that he had supplies enough to carry on living. The stand-in Champion also brought news of the outside world, but this mainly flew over Steven's head. They didn't speak much anymore; they'd often just sit in silence, Wallace having made cups of tea of hot chocolate for the both of them.

Steven felt empty, lonely, like he had only once before, when his mother had died. That had been many years ago now, but after that he had learned to deal with his suffering alone, hence his retreat into his home.

He was spending another night alone, holding the sapphire in his hand, his stomach was growling at him, demanding to be fed, but he didn't have the motivation to get up and cook. He just wanted to lie there, on his bed, staring at the gem in his hand. His mind cross with him for reacting this way to her… Leaving.

There came a soft knocking. Who could that be? Wallace just let himself in, having a key to the house. Steven rolled onto his side, deciding to ignore the knock. But moments later it came again, repeating every few minutes. Whoever it was, they weren't going to give up. The sound ringing through the silent house, again and again.

Eventually, he sighed, placing the sapphire on the bedside cabinet as he stood. Slowly approaching the door.

* * *

She frowned, he wasn't answering, and perhaps he wasn't at home. Her heart sinking she turned away, wondering what she should do now.

After taking two steps, she heard the door open behind her. She froze.

* * *

He peered out the door, looking at the back of a girl's head. She was filthy, covered from head to foot in sand and shivering. Her hair was matted with damp sand and knotted as though she'd just been dragged through a hedge backwards.

She seemed familiar though, her plain blue top with elbow-length sleeves and darker blue jeans clung to her, and they were soaked. She looked as though she had just rolled around on the beach.

But then she turned and he gaped.

* * *

She looked around at him. Seeing the perfect features contort in true, unsullied shock-horror.

Wishing to say something witty and funny, or kind and apologetic, she opened her mouth, but no words came.

She was dragged into a tight, rib-cracking hug. "Sapphire! I-Is this a dream?" He whispered into her hair.

She shivered, feeling the icy shards of the harsh cold being chased away by his warm embrace, his thin arms tight but cosy around her.

"I'm s-sorry Steven, for keeping you waiting." She returned his hug, holding him as tight as she could. "This isn't a dream. I'm back! And I'll never leave again!" Her voice faltered with tears rudely interjecting, making her voice tremble and her words catching in her throat.

Without letting her go, he pulled her inside, shutting the door behind them. "How is this possible? You're, you're dead." His voice shook with his second sentence.

"I've been given a second chance." She whispered, resting her head on his chest.

After moments of simply standing there, the two broke apart, she shivered as she returned to the cold reality; the soggy clothes clung to her, sapping all warmth out of her body. Wrapping her arms around herself, in an attempt to hold in some heat, she looked at him closely.

His hair was scruffy, as though he hadn't moved from his bed all day, deep bags were visible under his eyes, evidently he had trouble sleeping, and his skin was paler than before, he hadn't seen the sun for a while.

"How long was I gone?" She asked, curiously.

He looked at a calendar on the wall that Wallace always righted when he visited. "Three months, to the day." Her mouth fell open; to her it had been mere hours, if that! "Where have you been?" He inquired, turning to his bathroom, grabbing a clean towel from just inside and approaching her again.

"I don't know, I was," She squinted, trying to remember. He wrapped her up in the towel, quickly grabbing a smaller hand-towel from his kitchen area, proceeding to dry her hair with it. "I remember, Sootopolis, then you, then… Floating in nothingness until recently, then I was falling back to Earth and a Pokémon caught me. It then brought me here."

He took her hand, leading her. Sapphire's legs shook as he took her to a seat at the table. Collapsing into it, she drew the towel closer around her shoulders.

Steven took the seat on the opposite side of the table, staring at her, his mind was numb, his grasp of reality fervently shaken, he watched her, his grip on normality slipping.

"But, I watched you, you died. Your heart stopped beating and you were dead." He reached over the table, pressing his forefinger to her neck, feeling the healthy pulse pound against it. She took his hand, holding it to her face, breathing in sadly.

"I promise you, I'm here, I'm not leaving, and I'm fine now." He pulled his hand away from her.

"I've lost it." He stated bluntly, "I'm hallucinating. You're not real. Leave me alone!" His eyes turned sharp as he stood from the table, the sudden realization striking him square in the chest. He breathed in quickly as his heart ached, he felt like he was losing her all over again.

"Steven?" Her eyes began watering. "Steven I'm real!" She tried getting angry, to prevent the tears from rolling down her face, but she couldn't manage it. He'd obviously been suffering, she had left him to suffer alone, what right did she have to get angry at him for thinking the most logical thing? How many girls just _happened _to get a second chance at life?

She stood, her shoulders shaking with her compressed distraught. She took the towel from her shoulders, placing it on the back of the chair she had been sitting in.

"Call Metagross, you trust him, if he says I'm real, will you believe I'm back?" He glared at what he believed to be a wicked vision of his own mind.

Sapphire felt something in her chest tighten, it was painful to see him glaring at her with this much anger.

"Yes." He walked slowly; not taking his eyes off of her as he rummaged through a drawer, pulling out a PokéBall and called out the great, blue, metallic Pokémon he trusted above all others.

It looked between the two of them; the two humans still stood staring at each other, Sapphire with pleas in her eyes, Steven with mistrust in his.

"Please Metagross," She turned her plea to it, "tell him I'm real, that you can see me too." she hated that her voice was so pitiful, but the ache in her chest made it hard to be strong.

"Can you? Can you see her?" Steven asked, pointing to Sapphire.

The Steel-type stared from one to the other, then approached her and, using one of it's front legs, poked her in the side, pushing her into the table by accident.

"Is she really there?" The Pokémon answered by turning to Steven and nodding certainly. There could be no arguing with Metagross, he never lied and never answered Steven unless it had a certain answer for him.

"Now do you believe me?" A tear broke through her restraint, trickling down her cheek as she spoke.

"I'm sorry Sapphire." He hurried forward, taking her in his arms again after returning Metagross to his PokéBall.

"Don't you dare apologise to me!" She said fiercely glaring into his eyes. "Don't you _ever _apologise for that! I left you! I caused you so much suffering! _I_ did this! Don't you DARE apologise Steven Stone!"

More tears, she tried her best to hold them back, to appear stronger than she felt, but they rebelled against her wishes and ran down her face in orderly streams.

"I'm sorry! I'm so sorry for everything you've been through! But I don't know how to make it up to you! I can't ever make up for the pain you've been through because-" He lowered his head, silencing her babbles with a kiss.

Her sapphire orbs widened, staring at his closed eyes, he seemed genuinely overjoyed and relieved that she was indeed real.

Slowly her own eyes closed, her hands drifting up, to tangle themselves in his messy hair, pressing him deeper into the kiss.

His hands were pressed into the small of her back, holding her body to his, she still was cold, smelling strongly of sea salt, but he didn't mind, he never wanted this moment to end. Her lips were so soft against his, her breath caressing his cheek.

However, all good things must come to an end. They broke apart, gasping for air. Her hands dropped to her sides, but his stayed on her back, refusing to let her break fully away from him.

He rested his face on the top of her head, ignoring the dampness and the spiky grains of sand which pressed into his cheek, he breathed deeply, listening to her gasping breaths.

"Just being here now, is apology enough Sapphire." He whispered.

* * *

**A/N: I hope I wrote this well! I'm not particularly skilled with romance, but I'm working on it! Hopefully the romance scenes will get better with time! :D**


	6. Bloodstone Tears

"Phantom gave me this; he brought it here possibly for safekeeping." Steven pulled her blue backpack from a wardrobe; it had been buried under a messy mound of clothing, as though it had been painful to see it sitting at the bottom of the wardrobe with no owner to reclaim it.

She took it, pulling out a small bag of toiletries and some light clothing she could change into after showering. The innards of the bag were squashed and extremely untidy, exactly how she had left it. She made a mental note to sort through it tomorrow.

Standing under the spray of steamy water, she felt the shivers die, her body relaxing under the water. It took some time to get her hair knot-free; she had a sturdy comb in hand and was determined to win the fight against her mane of brunette hair.

After she was clean, she needed to spend another five minutes washing away the sand which had settled on the base of the shower-bath. Once she was done, she rejoined Steven in the main room.

"You wouldn't have a hairdryer would you?" He looked up from the table, his eyes questioning her, "Nope, I didn't think you would," She sighed, roughly rubbing her locks with a towel before hanging it on the bathroom radiator. "What time is it?"

"About nine," He answered, checking he was correct by glancing at a clock on the wall.

"Have you had dinner yet?" She felt empty, her sudden hunger surprising her.

His stomach growled, "No, not yet."

She walked into the kitchen, searching through the cupboards to see what he had in. She found a large variety of things; she was shocked that everything was in date. Somehow she had thought that Steven wouldn't have organised his kitchen well and stocked up on food when he was cooped up in here.

Frowning with the wide choice, she looked over her shoulder, jumping when she saw him right behind her, he'd approached silently. Something like that would not have caught her off guard before. Frowning to herself she asked, "Is there anything you want in particular?"

After another few minutes of examining what was available, she took out a tin of chopped tomatoes, a few other vegetables and pasta, he helped her prep the meal and eventually, they sat at the table, bowls of pasta and veggie sauce in front of them.

They ate in silence for a time, before Sapphire's eyes came to rest on a rock which stood alone on the table by itself a little square of white tissue underneath it.

Absently, she picked it up, turning it over in her hand. The surface was rough; the stone was enveloped in dirt, which had set solid, crusting over the stone.

She tried to rub away the dirt, but it was set far too solid for her fingers to push away. She placed it back on the table where it had been before, on a little square of tissue.

"Anything happened while I've been gone?" She asked, wanting to break the silence.

"Nothing of importance. Wallace is the current Champion, flocks of new trainers have been taking on the League Challenge, but so far not one has beaten the Elite Four. Nothing more has been heard of the super-ancient Pokémon or the three golems. But rumours of a green Pokémon flying through the sky have been spreading like wildfire." He informed. She looked up from her bowl to him.

"A green Pokémon? Is it serpentine?" Her interest was caught, thinking of the huge flying emerald Pokémon who had stopped her from falling to her death.

"The rumours say that it's serpent-like with golden patterns down its body, however it flies at speeds no one can keep up with, and so no one has properly seen the Pokémon or attempted to capture it." He tilted his head to a side, "How did you know it was like a serpent?"

"That was the Pokémon who caught me; it saved my life then dropped me off here." She finished her food, taking the bowl over to the sink, where she ran the hot tap and added some lemon-scented washing-up liquid.

"Have you befriended it like you do all Pokémon you meet?" He asked, smiling at her over his shoulder and wondering if this mysterious Pokémon would travel and help her like all others she had met had.

She froze, dropping the sponge from her hand, splashing water down her front as she tried to catch it before it hit the water and ended up whacking the surface of the liquid with her sponge holding fist.

"No, I can't speak with Pokémon as I once could." She looked down, mopping her front with a nearby tea-towel. "My gift, my psychic ability has gone." He was one of the few people who knew about her old ability.

He stood, bringing his empty bowl to the sink, taking the sponge from her and starting to wash up the bowls, then the pans and cutlery they'd used to make the meal.

"What do you mean?"

"I used it all up. All the power I had was used up when I tried calming the super-ancient Pokémon in Sootopolis. Afterwards I was informed that if I regained my ability, my mind would snap, I can't regain my power, so I can't contact my friends or understand Pokémon the way I used to." She twisted the tea towel in her hands, her gaze fixed on the granite surface on the top of the kitchen cabinets. "It's awful lonely in my head alone."

"Surely there's a way to regain your power." He comforted, pulling the plug as he finished washing up. He dried his hands then gripped her shoulder, "We'll find a way I promise."

"Thanks," Her face brightened up, "can you show me more stones? I haven't seen any in ages!" His face lit up also as he ushered her to the table, he moved over to a cabinet and selected a few from a gathering there.

* * *

They'd spent a few hours looking over various pied stones of varying sizes, they all grasped her attention, and Steven grew more enthusiastic the more stones they viewed.

After a few hours of this, Sapphire felt fatigue pulling her attention away from the activity. Steven started to put away the last of them and smiled at her tired look. "Ready to go to bed?" he asked.

She nodded, her eyelids drooping as she watched him cross to his bed, adjusting the sheets then gesturing to her.

She crossed the room to him, lying down, letting him tuck her in. "Where will you sleep?" She asked, her mind already fazing into unconsciousness. But she drifted off to sleep before she could hear the answer.

* * *

She woke and was immediately aware. The windows showed nothing but dark night skies, the sounds of the sea came to her loud and clear.

She rolled onto her side, to observe the room. Nothing had changed, so what had woken her? Looking around, she couldn't see Steven anywhere.

A quiet whine drew her attention to the floor, about a foot from the bed was where he was sleeping, curled up, a thin blanket covering his body. He was shaking.

Instantly, she pushed up, getting off the bed, stepping over him to crouch down at his side. "Steven?" She whispered, touching his face gently. He was in deep sleep, but shaking with fear.

She felt tears beneath her fingers. She brushed them away quickly. He couldn't be comfortable there, the floor was wooden, not the softest of mattresses.

She sighed, lifting him into a sitting position, supporting his back with her arm, and then scooping his legs up with her other. The light sheet slipped off him, coming to rest on the floor where he had been lying.

He was light, but she still struggled to lift him and place him carefully onto the bed, somehow she managed the feat and pulled the covers over him.

His shaking ceased when she had picked him up, she frowned, wondering what had caused the strange vulnerability she had never seen in him before.

She went to the table, sitting in one of the chairs, resting her elbows on the wooden surface. She picked up the stone again, the dampness on her fingers rubbed away at the dirt coating the stone.

Her bag stood nearby, she crossed to it and took a small torch from an outside pocket, shining the dim beam at the stone, blood red patches shone through the dirt.

The tissue still lay on the table; she took it up and rubbed at the remaining crust of the stone. Eventually it all came away, revealing a deep green stone, with unusual droplets of dark red on its surface, as if it was bleeding.

A movement from the corner of the room drew her attention, Steven had sat up, obviously awake.

"Sorry," She apologised softly, "Did I wake you?" He stared at her, eyes wide for a second, before he calmed and sighed.

"No, you didn't wake me, how long have you been up?"

"Not long, I was just looking at this stone; I woke up about ten minutes ago." She looked to him, "I moved you though, because you weren't sleeping very well on the floor."

He blinked, and then wiped his face swiftly on his nightshirt. "Thank you."

"You should go back to sleep, it's still really early." She turned her attention back to the strange stone in her hand. "Some more rest will do you good."

"Sapphire, please come here," He gestured to her with one hand.

Setting the stone back, she stood swiftly, walking over to him and perching on the edge of the bed. He touched her face gently, his eyes staring deeply into her own.

"Was it a nightmare that woke you?" She asked, feeling her cheeks flare up at the close proximity.

He frowned, "More a memory. It was Sootopolis, after the super-ancient Pokémon had gone, when you were, dying."

Sadness welled inside her once again. She'd hurt him so much when she had saved him. She just couldn't do things quite right.

She felt herself move instinctively, like a mother seeking to console her child. Wrapping her arms tightly around his chest, she drew him closer, leaning so they both fell softly onto the mattress. He lay on his back; she was resting her head on his chest, listening to his heartbeat. "I'm here now, I can't erase the past but I promise I won't do anything stupid again," She whispered, but after a second she thought about it, that was a promise she couldn't keep, "not for at least a week."

He chuckled, wrapping his arms around her. She let him go with one arm, tugging the quilt over them. They fell asleep in one another's arms, both falling into a peaceful, restful slumber.

* * *

**A/N: Another short chapter, but I really did struggle with this one, I have plans for the future but I didn't spend enough time thinking through this chapter, I'm sorry. Hopefully I'll update another chapter a little later today, but if not I'll see you again tomorrow!**


	7. Agate To The First Time

_Eight Years Ago…_

Sapphire walked through the tall grasses of Petalburg Woods, a joyful Mudkip at her side. They'd been keeping up a long conversation since passing through Oldale Town. She'd gotten to know this little fellow very well even though they had only met that day.

They'd fought other Pokémon along the way, and she'd learnt that he did not love battling, but he wasn't averse to showing overconfident Wurmple who was strongest. They'd made a few friends along the way, including a male Ralts, who had recently evolved into a Kirlia and had become so moody since, Sapphire was reminded of how adults spoke of teenage boys whenever she tried to explain his personality to herself. He had evolved early, when he was a little Ralts he was the sweetest thing, now he was moody and always thought he was right, and was sarcastic as all hell.

A strange looking man in a white coat approached her. "Excuse me, have you seen any Shroomish? I really love that Pokémon."

Taken aback she replied, "No I'm sorry, I've never seen that Pokémon before."

Running footsteps, Mudkip leapt in front of her, protecting her from the newcomer.

She looked around, a strange man dressed in blue lunged at the man, who hurtled behind Sapphire. "Give me those Devon Parts!"

"Oh no! Trainer protect me!" He begged, clutching her arm.

She shrugged his grip off her arm and gestured to Mudkip to ready himself for battle.

The stranger's Poochyena was no match for her Mudkip, who took down the little Dark-type within moments. The grown man stood in shock as he stared at the ten year old girl who had just flattened his Pokémon.

"Those parts will be mine!" The man ran off northwards.

"Thank you so much trainer." The man in the lab coat sighed in relief. "Come to Rustboro, I must reward you for this deed." He set off at a brisk pace, the same way that the blue-clad man had gone.

* * *

After arriving in Rustboro City, she had challenged the Gym Leader Roxanne, who put up an exquisite fight but lost as she had the clear disadvantage.

Having pinned her new shiny badge into her Badge Case, she stepped into the bustling air of the city, being greeted by a yell. "HE STOLE THE PARTS!"

Following the yelping man, she recognised him, by his shrill, panicked voice, as the scientist she'd met in the woods, Shroomish-man.

"Trainer! It's you! He stole the parts then ran off to Rusturf Tunnel! Please get them back!" Shroomish-man pleaded like a mewling Skitty, pointed down the route.

"Come on Mudkip!" She sprinted through the swaying grass, avoiding wild Pokémon who lay in wait to pounce at an unsuspecting trainer.

An old man stood at the tunnel, babbling to himself, "He took Peeko! He took my Peeko!" Not knowing who, or what, Peeko was, she entered the tunnel, assuming that this Peeko was taken by the same man who had stolen the Devon Parts.

"You again! You won't win this time, not when I have these parts!" Blue-clad man had come to a blockage in the tunnel, preventing him from escaping. He threw his PokéBall, releasing his Poochyena, who once again fell to her Mudkip with little struggle.

She heard the call of a scared Wingull, "Give back those parts and that Pokémon, then I'll let you go free. You've lost this fight." She crossed her arms, glaring at the silhouette of the man before her, she was confident even though he was a fully grown man and she was a ten year old child.

"Fine." He thrust the briefcase into her chest, rushing past her and vanishing out of the cave.

"Hey," She crouched by the frightened bird Pokémon, "are you alright?" She extended her hand to him."

"Peeko! You're alright! Come on, let's go home!" The babbling man had rushed towards the blue and white bird.

* * *

She'd returned to Rustboro, letting Shroomish-man snatch the briefcase from her. "You got it back! Thank you! Please come with me, I must tell the President of Devon Corp about this!" He grasped her arm and pulled her towards the largest building in the city.

She was led through the front doors and passed the reception desk, Shroomish-man spoke with a guard who stood at the bottom of the stairs, and she was let past afterwards. They travelled up to the top floor, once they had reached the top of the steps he turned to her.

"Do you mind waiting here for a second?" She agreed to wait there as he rushed off into the large room. After about a minute he returned, "Come with me."

She was led up to a large desk, covered in neatly piled papers; stones in glass display cases were visible through the corner of her eye.

"It is good to meet you, my name is Mr Stone. I'm the President of Devon Corp. I've heard that you've aided one of my employees twice now, helping to prevent some parts from falling into the hands of thieves." She had shaken the man's hand, it was warm and firm, and it felt like it had seen many years of rough manual work. "I must be rather rude now and ask for yet another favour of you. I need someone reliable to deliver some things for me." Sapphire like this man, his voice was kind and his tone polite; he treated her like an adult, which was always a good trait in a grown-up.

"I'll be glad to help." She smiled at him, thinking it shouldn't be a bother delivering some things; she was travelling Hoenn anyway, why not?

"That's good to hear." His voice was warm, a smile evident in it. "You will not go unpaid for these errands however," He held something out to her; she peered at it, holding it close to her eyes to make it out. "That is a PokéNav Plus, our latest model of PokéNav."

Her mouth fell open, "I can't accept this sir," she protested, holding the new piece of technology delicately but securely, these cost _thousands! _She couldn't just take one for delivering a few things.

"It's my pleasure to give it to such an energetic young trainer. It is fitting payment as the items I will entrust with you to deliver are rather important."

At his words, she gingerly placed the PokéNav Plus in the most padded pocket of her bag.

"First, I will ask you to deliver this," He held out a crisp white envelope, "to a man you should find in Dewford. His name is Steven. Then afterwards could you deliver the Devon Parts to Captain Stern in Slateport City?" The jittery scientist handed over the briefcase containing the aforementioned Devon Parts.

"Yes that should be no problem." She answered, still a little shell-shocked by the man handing over an expensive piece of technology like it was nothing.

"There is a map on the AreaNav app on your PokéNav, and I shall get into contact with Mr Briney, his house is just outside of Petalburg, he should be able to give you a lift over to Dewford."

"Thank you," She smiled at the CEO.

"No thank you, Miss…"

"Oh," She blushed, "Sapphire."

* * *

"Here we are at Dewford miss," The old sailor exclaimed as the boat came to a halt.

She tripped a little as she exited the boat; she hadn't expected the drop off the small ship to be quite the height it was at.

The whole town was situated on a beach; she frowned, wondering if the tide ever rose, because if it did the whole town could be swept away with the high tide.

"Who you looking for?" The old sailor asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her.

"Someone called Steven." She answered, hoping she had remembered correctly the name of whom she was supposed to deliver this letter to.

"Ah, well, the Gym Leader here, Brawley, may know where Steven is."

"Any excuse for a battle is fine with me." She smiled at the kind man who had sailed her out here. Waving to his cheerful Wingull as she left.

* * *

She let Mudkip sit this fight out; her enthusiastic friend Kirlia was more than capable of taking down the trainers in the Gym and the leader himself to boot.

"You're looking for Steven? He headed off out of Dewford when I told him there was a cave just north of here. He didn't go too long ago, if you head off now you should catch him."

"Thank you," She attached the badge next to the one Roxanne had given her, then replaced her Badge Case back into it's slot in her bag, all as she exited the Fighting Gym.

* * *

She found the cave easily, Kirlia walking at her side, his excitement from the battle not yet worn away, he skipped as he stepped and often had to twirl and double back because he'd left her far behind.

The cave was dark inside. Straight away she tripped over a boulder. "Ouch, it's so dark in here!" She exclaimed as she rubbed her bare shin where it'd cracked against the obstacle. "Kirlia, can you see?"

_'__Yeah, a little, but my eyes are better than yours.' _He answered, almost dancing on the spot with the excess energy.

"Could you let me know if there are any other boulders in my way?" She stood up, trailing her hand over the right wall so she could explore the cave without getting too lost.

They moved through the cave, avoiding the Makuhita who tried jumping them at every chance. Kirlia had no interest in fighting these Pokémon, saying that they were too weak for him to deal with as he strutted past.

Her foot hit something solid and she toppled down some stairs. "Hey Kirlia, you said you'd warn me about boulders." She pointed at the green-haired Pokémon.

_'It isn't a boulder.' _The Pokémon answered her. A smug smile permeating his inner voice.

"Huh?" She retraced her steps up the rocky stairs. What she had tripped over lay there, shaking in fear as it tried to pretend to be a boulder. "Hey! Are you alright?" She touched the Pokémon gently, it's cold metal plates surprising her.

The Pokémon looked up at her through big blue eyes; she shushed it, hoping it'd calm down soon. It was strangely cute, curled there, it's rocky body coated in shiny steel armour. "Did I hurt you little one?" She whispered to it, patting it's round head.

_'N-No.' _It replied, looking at her curiously.

"That's great! I'm sorry, I didn't see you down there, and Kirlia is a little too nit-picky to help me out, there are always loopholes with him." She sighed.

_'That's okay. You know it's not every day I have a conversation with a human.' _The Pokémon seemed intrigued at how she could understand him when people never could.

"You wouldn't be surprised at how many Pokémon tell me that." She smiled at the little Pokémon, "Has anyone passed by here? Any human I mean, I'm looking for someone." She wondered if this little Aron could tell her where Steven was, plus it'd be very helpful to have a guide who knew this cave.

_'Yes a little while ago, he went down here.' _The small armoured Pokémon jogged by her ankle, gently pushing her away from an outcropping of rocks which threatened to trip her again.

He led her into a large room, which was lit by a large Pokémon, standing by a teen's side and emanating a strange light from it's body to light the majority of this large cave.

"Thank you Aron." She crouched and petted the helpful Pokémon's head, "Thanks for bringing me here."

The Pokémon called happily, still standing by her side. Kirlia looked on grumpily, his skinny arms crossed over his chest; she patted his head too, to cease his sulking.

She couldn't make the teen's features out, all she could tell was he was wearing black clothes and had oddly silver hair. He had heard her praise Aron and turned to look at her.

"Excuse me, are you Steven?" She asked hesitantly hoping beyond hope she had remembered the name correctly and she wasn't looking for a Stephan or something.

He stood on a raised portion of the room, a rough-hewn staircase led up to where he was. She started forward, Aron trotting along at her side, Kirlia leaning against the wall near the exit, still grumpy.

"Yes, and you are?" His voice was kind, young, possibly mid-teens but had a note of maturity beyond his years.

The final step was worn down, her foot slipped as she stepped on it, she nearly toppled forwards, but Steven held out an assisting arm, catching her before she fell and setting her back on her feet.

"Thanks," Her face flushed, but she ignored it and continued as if nothing had happened. "My name's Sapphire. I was asked to give you this by Mr Stone from Devon Corp." She opened the outer pocket of her bag, where the letter sat cosily.

"Ah, thank you." He took the crisp envelope from her. "Is that your Aron?" He looked down at the Pokémon, who was hiding behind her legs, peering out around them at him.

"No, he's a wild Aron who led me to you." She smiled at him. "He guided me here."

"Guided? This cave isn't that complex is it?" He asked, confused as the path he had taken to get to this room was quite straightforward.

"Well, no it isn't, but it's a little trickier if you can't see where you're going." She smiled embarrassed, her cheeks flushing once again.

"You're blind?" He asked, shocked, she had seemed to walk up the stairs fine by herself and she'd known that he was there even though he hadn't spoken.

"No, not quite, but I can't see in this cave it's a little too dark. And my Kirlia was a little too excited by our last Gym battle to guide me through the cave." She smiled over at the Pokémon, who had started tapping his foot impatiently. "What are you doing in this cave?" She asked, looking around, she could see something on the wall behind him.

"I was looking for rare stones, but I found this wall painting instead, and I got distracted by it." He gestured over to where she had seen something on the wall.

She walked up; squinting at the shapes she could see. But no matter how much she looked at them she couldn't figure out what they were supposed to be showing.

"It looks like two super-ancient Pokémon, but it seems to show something similar to Mega Evolution, but it seems different to Mega Evolution." Steven explained, pointing to one shape, "I believe this is Kyogre, a legendary Pokémon of the sea, said to be able to bring about huge downpours. Then there's Groudon," he indicated another shape, "the legendary Pokémon of the land, said to cause droughts."

"Have you studied cave paintings a lot?" She asked, squinting, but the scribbles still looked like childish renditions of circles, triangles and other such primary shapes.

"No, I can't say I have, stones are my forte." A smile in his voice as he answered.

"Can I ask you a question then?" She asked, something Kirlia had mentioned a while back flitting into her head.

"You may ask another one yes." He chuckled as they turned away from the painting, he recalled his Pokémon and the cave became considerably darker, but there was still some natural light filtering down into the room.

"I heard that a male Kirlia can evolve differently if you use a stone, do you know which stone I need?" If she found this stone for Kirlia he might stop talking about it _all the time_! He'd only been travelling with her since mid-morning, but he hadn't given this subject a break since then.

"That's easy; you need a Dawn Stone to evolve him into Gallade." He pulled her to her left; she had really nearly missed the steps and dropped down quite a considerable drop to the lower portion of the cave.

"Thank you," She thanked for both the answer to her question and the assistance. Then she hummed in thought, looking at Kirlia.

"What are you thinking?" The silver-haired teen asked.

"I've never seen a Dawn Stone before." She mused. "So I don't know how to find one."

"Here." He rifled through his pocket, pulling out a small, pale green stone, making to hand it to her. "Take it, as thanks for delivering the letter."

"Oh no! I couldn't, besides, I've already been given something for the errand, I was headed here anyway it really was nothing!" She pushed her hands into her pockets, ensuring he couldn't place it in her hands.

He laughed at her antics, "Take it, I have plenty." She shook her head, still with her hands balled into fists in her pockets. He chuckled at her antics, balancing the stone on the top of her head. "There you go, one Dawn Stone."

She felt the stone sliding; she was forced to catch it before it fell to the cave floor. "Thank you."

Kirlia rushed forward, trying to grab the stone from her, she held it out of his reach.

He used his Psychic power to levitate it out of her hand, making it drift towards him. Immediately, forgetting she was among company, she grasped it with her own mind, narrowing her eyes at the floating stone, watching it shudder as she fought to reclaim it. The light green Dawn Stone was caught in a ray of sunlight leaking through the rocks, shining at her as she pulled back, playing a mental tug-of-war with the stubborn Kirlia.

"What?" Steven watched as an amethyst glow was visible in her eyes, the same as the one that surrounded Kirlia as he used his own psychic abilities.

Her concentration was snapped and the stone flew towards Kirlia, but Aron leapt into the air, snatching it out of the air and landing in her arms. She nearly dropped the metal-plated Pokémon.

"What just happened?" He stared at her, "Did you just use Psychic?"

"Err, um," She stepped backwards, finding herself cornered into telling the truth. "No, well not like a Pokémon attack Psychic, no I just used my mind to try and get the stone back from Kirlia, he can be quite rude sometimes."

The teen crossed his arms, resting his chin on his hand, deep in thought. "You used your mind?"

"Um yes. I was born with psychic powers." She looked down at the green stone in her hand.

"That must be how you befriended the Aron so quickly. Did you connect to his mind?"

"Yes, I was talking to him because I tripped over him." She smiled; quite relieved he wasn't running away screaming, yet.

"So can you read people's minds also?" He looked at her curiously, his voice thoughtful as he wondered about this unusual girl.

"I can, but I choose not to most of the time. Human minds are often far too busy, it gives me headaches."

"Can you prove it?" He asked, wanting hard evidence before he would believe her.

"If you concentrate on one thought in particular, yes." She lowered her mind barrier, immediately buffeted by his thoughts before they slowed and focussed on one thing. She heard one word echoed in his head. Her eyes were closed, her mind focussed, "Something she couldn't know," She whispered the words she heard in his head, "ah, Metagross." Her eyes flitted open and up to his face, "What is Metagross?"

The teen stepped back flabbergasted that she did indeed read his mind; she could hear the shocked thoughts spinning around his busy mind before she forced her barriers up, feeling a headache bloom.

"Metagross is my favourite Pokémon. I honestly wasn't expecting you to actually be able to read my mind.

"Your head is very busy, I'm surprised myself that I could read it." She laughed.

They'd begun to head out of the cave, Aron still followed her closely.

Steven guided her around jagged stones which stood in her way, ensuring that she did not get hurt.

They both stepped, blinking, into the sunset.

She looked over to the west, seeing the amber sun gracing the sea with fire. The beautiful sight of golds and reds made her eyes widen, she'd never expected to see such a sight on her journey. The rippling tide took the suns colours and played with them, tossing them and rolling them along. The occasional Water-type Pokémon leaped into the air before splashing down into the sea, further causing the firewater to swill and churn.

"Wow." She whispered to herself, simply dumbfounded by the sunset. This was the type of scene which only existed in movies; the perfect sunset in reality never seemed _this _beautiful! She thought she'd seen a small, heart-shaped Pokémon leaping from the depths, but it was gone before she could be sure.

"Yes. I've travelled Hoenn for a good few years now, but it always surprises me how beautiful this region can be. It's like a bold Fire Stone, but with the grace of a Water Stone and the elegance of a Sun Stone." He described the sunset enthusiastically.

"I've seen none of those three stones, but I fervently agree with everything you just said." She grinned jokingly.

He laughed at her sentence, looking over at her; her face was lit with the orange glow from the sun. She was certainly something different, something special.

* * *

**A/N: There, spent all day writing this chapter, I really hate proof reading, but it's just no good if I don't actually read and make alterations, though I added like 600 words to this chapter while proof reading,not quite sure how that happened.**

**Back to main story next chapter I promise!**

**Thanks for reading! Let me know what you think?**


	8. The Turquoise With The Bright Idea

Steven woke when he heard his front door open. Sapphire was still resting on his chest, her face buried in his nightshirt, the covers high, resting over her shoulders. Her brunette hair was messy, thrown over her head and shoulders, obscuring her face entirely, her gentle breathing ruffling it every so often.

"Had a girl over?" Wallace stood, his eyes on Steven and Sapphire in Steven's bed. "Well, looks like you've gotten out since I last came." Wallace strode into the kitchen, to do his usual tidying. "Have you finally come out of your shell? She wouldn't have wanted you to sulk away the rest of your life." Wallace continued talking, sorting out some of the kitchen cupboards. "Did you have fun last night?" He threw a smirk over to his friend.

"Wallace," Steven groaned, "It's early!"

"Have you seen the time Steven Stone? How late were you two up till?" He pointed at the clock, which showed the time of day was around noon.

"Oh, about eleven I think."

"Not sure huh?" Wallace chuckled knowingly.

"I don't care much for those implications." Steven closed his eyes pointedly.

"Soooo," Wallace dragged the word out, "who is she?" He sat on one of the chairs, waiting for all the gossip from Steven.

Sapphire stirred, her hair still obscuring her face from Wallace, but as she woke and cracked her eyes open, he saw the deep blue irises which could only belong to one person.

"No! No _way_!" Wallace leapt to his feet, almost sprinting over to the two, pushing her hair from her face. "Sapphire!" He exclaimed in shock, taking a few steps backwards. "But-" He walked into the table, "But you-!" He couldn't finish his sentence.

Sapphire groaned, "Wallace, it's early! Please don't shout!" She buried her face in Steven's chest once more, then, realising what this would look like to anyone other than her and Steven, she pushed off him, leaping to her feet within a second. She hid her face as it furiously burst into flames of embarrassment. "WALLACE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE?!" Her voice was uncontrollably loud in her own discomfiture.

"What am _I _doing here? Sapphire you're _DEAD_!" His voice rose in confusion and horror. "No," He regained his composure, "Steven, who is this? I didn't know Sapphire had a twin sister."

"Both of you shut up!" Steven lay with the pillow over his head, trying to stifle the yells that the other two had been shrilly throwing at one another.

"Wallace, I'm no twin! I'm _actually _Sapphire!"

"Have I lost all sense?"

"Great, another reference to me being part of a collapsed psyche, wow, wonderful, one more and I might start feeling self-conscious or something." Sapphire crossed her arms over her chest, smirking at Wallace's horrified eyes. "Do you have to look like you've just seen a ghost?"

"I'm sorry, but Steven and I were there as you died, you two kissed and then you vanished into a misty cloud of sparkling amethyst shards, it was all magical and sad and stuff but you definitely died!"

"I don't know why I was given another chance. I don't understand why that wasn't just it, but it wasn't. I'm here, I'm back, and I'm _REAL_!"

* * *

It took some time for Wallace to calm down and accept the unimaginable. But after about half an hour they all sat at the table, cups of tea sitting in front of each of them. Sapphire and Steven had changed into day clothes.

"So this power you had, Steven explained to me a few weeks ago, about you having powers similar to a Psychic-type Pokémon. You say you don't have them anymore?"

"No, they've gone, I can't sense my friends of contact them, I can't do what I used to be able to." She looked down into the pale hue of her tea.

"But you want them back?" He asked.

"Yes, more than anything, but I was told that if I tried the strain on my brain would just cause it to snap. So I don't know whether I should seek out a way to get them back."

"How much do you want them back?" Wallace pressed, taking a delicate sip of tea.

"I want them back really bad, I loved being able to talk to all Pokémon and find my friends no matter how far away they were." She stared into his turquoise eyes, trying to portray in hers how much she wanted to hear her friends again, it was far _too _quiet in her head on her own, it wasn't right.

"Well then, you two had better outline yourselves a plan. How are you going to find out how to get Sapphire her powers back?" He rested his elbows on the table and rested his chin on his hands. "I don't think the answers you seek can be found here in Hoenn. Otherwise I might be able to help you out."

"Do you have any idea where we might find answers?" Steven pressed his tea untouched in front of him. Sapphire took a sip of hers, waiting for Wallace to finish thinking.

"Perhaps Sinnoh. You know Cynthia, don't you Steven; she searches her region to learn about folklore and myths, if there is anything to be found there, she will know it."

"Who's Cynthia?" Sapphire asked a small flare of mistrust flickered in her mind before she squashed it under a mental foot.

"She's the Champion of the Sinnoh League." Steven answered. "I should have thought of her." He slapped his forehead, unhappy that he had missed this oversight.

"That's why I'm here. I'm not just a pretty face." Wallace smiled slyly at the pair of them. "Oh, just a bit of advice, when travelling, don't be _too _noisy at night, people here might turn a blind eye to it but in different regions they may not be so forgiving of the disruption to their sleep."

"Thank you so very much for your input Wallace; we'll see you when we see you." Steven stood to see his friend out the door, before he could hint at _anything _else.

Wallace was laughing heartily as he left. "Oh Sapphire!" He called back, just before Steven shut the door behind him. "Come out here."

Sapphire heard splashing. She rushed out and stared into the sea, where Mina was swimming with Wallace's Milotic.

"Mina!" She ran, jumping off of the high ground, where Mossdeep stood, into the sea, wrapping her arms around her friend.

Her friend cried, then, after not receiving an answer, she pulled back, looking at Sapphire oddly.

"I can't hear you anymore," Sapphire frowned deeply, hating the barrier which had been thrust between her and her close friend. "I lost my psychic power, we're going to try and get them back though. Steven and I are going to Sinnoh!"

The beautiful serpent cried, possibly trying to convey she wished to join Sapphire in her journey to another region.

"I need you to stay here, look after Hoenn for me. And you need to let the others know I'm ok." Mina seemed reluctant, arguments in her eyes, but at a meaningful look from Sapphire, she nodded her head. "Thank you." Sapphire hugged her friend once more, squeezing her tightly.

Steven was speaking into his PokéNav, but Sapphire couldn't hear the words from this distance. Once she got out of the sea she walked up to him and Wallace.

"Wallace, did you bring Mina here?" She asked, beaming from ear to ear.

"She's been spending a lot of time with my Milotic these past few months." Wallace explained, "I released my Pokémon into the sea here so they could enjoy themselves, I didn't know that Mina would show up."

"Thanks for looking after her." Sapphire smiled at the current Champion.

"We need to go." Steven strode towards the two. "Capt. Stern says that we can travel on a cargo ship headed towards Sinnoh, but it leaves from Lilycove City in five minutes." He only had one PokéBall on him, he released his Pokémon as he handed Sapphire her backpack. She pulled it on and tightened the straps, so there was no way the bag would be separated from her.

Metagross wasn't the most comfortable means of transport for the two of them, but he was the fastest. Sapphire had her arms wrapped tightly around Steven's chest as his Steel-type Pokémon shot through the sky faster than she could imagine.

Within four minutes they'd made it to the docks in Lilycove. They met Captain Stern near the relatively small ship.

"We run this ship on a skeleton crew, the trip doesn't take too long and there is little cargo. Alongside you there will only be the captain of the ship, who will ensure the ships success in its voyage. However, there are only two cabins; I hope you two don't mind sharing a room."

"That shouldn't be an issue, thank you Capt. Stern, this is very helpful." The old sailor nodded to Steven, then looked a little closer at Sapphire, looking as though he was about to ask a question. Steven pulled her away and onto the ship before the sailor could pursue his train of thought.

They found the captain in the control room at the head of the ship.

"So you two are the late additions. You're not needed here." He gestured to the mass of technology behind him, "Here are the real workers needed on this ship. Navigation, steering, lookouts, everything ever needed on a ship, it's all right here. The ship is basically self-serving." The man looked as though he'd never put in a proper day's work in his many years at life, he chewed gum absently as he peered over at the screens. "You might as well just go to your cabin and stay there the whole trip; I don't want you causing trouble on my ship."

"I merely wished to ask how long the journey will be." Steven's polite voice was startlingly contrasting to the captains.

"Three weeks. Your cabin is located below deck; there are only two rooms, yours in on the left. Down the hall is the food storage. Don't pig out, that food needs to last us the entire trip.

"Thank you." Steven thanked as they turned around, walking towards the exit of the control room.

"He was lovely." Sapphire commented sarcastically as they found s door leading to stairs which took them below deck.

"Yes, well hopefully we won't be seeing much of him anyway." Steven smiled kindly to her.

Their room was rather large for such a small ship. It had a decent sized bed, a desk which jutted out of one wall, a few chairs which were bolted to the floor so they wouldn't throw themselves around the room and a few portholes which shed light on the whole room.

"I apologise for the sparse décor." Steven started as they entered, Sapphire smiled at the familiar words, those were the words he spoke to her when she first entered his house so many years ago. "But we had little choice, the next cruise to Sinnoh leaves in about six months; it's not a particularly popular voyage for the people of Hoenn."

She sat on the edge of the bed, dumping her backpack on the floor beside it. "That's fine; it's only for a few weeks." She smiled, "The main problem we're going to have is entertaining ourselves for three weeks. I think I'll start with breakfast." She opened her backpack, taking out a few croissants she'd found in a cupboard in Steven's kitchen earlier. "Want one? I doubt Captain Happy-face would be too chuffed if we took food from the store cupboard this early in the trip."

Steven smiled fondly as he took one of the pastries. Sapphire was sure that this trip was going to seem far longer than it actually was, what with the small ship and grumpy captain, it wasn't exactly a five-star cruise ship, but she wasn't going to complain, he was helping her regain her ability, and that was more than she would ever have asked from him.

* * *

**A/N: I'm going to try and update a little later, if i can think up something to happen next chapter. But I won't be able to upddate tomorrow or Wednesday, Sorry! But if all goes amazzingly well i migth update another chapter today.**

**Thanks for bearing with me!**


	9. Aquamarine Escapade

"Steven," It had been about a week since they'd set off from Lilycove. Sapphire had been messing with her PokéNav, curious as to see if the AreaNav would show where she was, she was trying to find a map of Sinnoh and had come across many regions, but none of them were Sinnoh.

"Yes, what is it?" He answered smoothly, running a comb through his silver locks.

"What's Sinnoh like? I've never been out of Hoenn before." She looked at him, she knew that a few years back he'd travelled the world and one of the places he'd been to was Sinnoh.

He set the comb down on the side and walked over to her, she was sat, cross legged, on the end of the bed. "Well, I'm not sure how to answer. Sinnoh is nothing like Hoenn, the climate is quite a bit lower than ours in Hoenn, and there is this one city which is buried in snow all year round. But, even though I'd say it wasn't as awe-inspiring as Hoenn is, it is rich with mythology." He took her PokéNav and navigated the map until he enlarged one region, then handing it back. "This is Sinnoh."

She spent half the day looking through the map, learning all she could about this new region she was visiting.

* * *

In the evening they went for a bit of fresh air, standing on the deck they could see many stars lighting up the sky.

It was getting much colder. Nights in Hoenn were usually warm, not as hot as the day but still warm enough to camp outdoors without a tent or warm blanket. Usually a gentle breeze flitted through the region, but here the cool breeze was more like a windy howl.

Sapphire wore the warmest coat she owned but still was cold. Steven stood there in his usual attire and not a single shiver rocked his frame, she was quite impressed that he was so used to the cold weather.

"The sea is very calm here." She noted, peering over the railing at the glassy waters, barely a ripple disturbed it's smooth surface.

"I've never seen the sea this calm," Steven noted, "This could be bad. There may be a storm headed this way."

Sapphire shivered again, turning her gaze to the clear sky. "It doesn't look like there's anything brewing." She muttered hopefully.

* * *

They returned to their cabin, where Sapphire warmed up somewhat. She'd taken her thick coat off but still wore a woolly cardigan to keep her warm.

"I've been thinking." Steven mused, "You said you were told that your mind would snap if the psychic powers you possessed were to return."

"Yes, I don't know why but that is the apparent reason I shouldn't try getting the powers back." She frowned deeply, "So what did you have in mind? A reason for this or a way around it?"

"A way around it." He said evenly, fiddling with Metagross' PokéBall in his hand. "Metagross has very powerful psychic abilities; maybe he could strengthen your mind so that if your powers were to return there would be no risk to your psyche."

"Do you think he could do that?" Her eyes lit up with the possibility of this.

"Perhaps, but this room isn't big enough for Metagross to fit into, not without breaking something. And it is a little too cold out there to start right now; we shall have to wait for tomorrow, when the day brings a little more warmth." He reattached Metagross' PokéBall to his belt.

"Yeah, I guess you're right." She said gloomily.

A yawn indicated to her just how late it was.

* * *

Sapphire woke in the night. For a split second she wondered what had woken her, before she was tossed onto the floor by the harsh jerks and tilts of the ship.

"What then?" She gasped as she hit the floor painfully.

"Sapphire, are you alright?" Steven was also awake; he'd stood, but had to grasp the edge of the bed to keep his balance as the ship lurched again.

"Yeah, what's going on?" She picked herself up, leaning heavily against the wall.

"It's a storm." He replied simply.

A flash of lightning lit the room, disorientating Sapphire, a clap of thunder followed immediately. The ship tossed more violently, Sapphire fell to the floor again, thinking she should just stay there.

Another flash of lightning illuminated the room, this one accompanied by a crash on the ship which was almost obscured by the roaring thunder.

"What was that?" Sapphire gasped, hearing something crackle above their heads.

An orange light flicked on, the room lit by its flickering light. But Sapphire knew that the light in this cabin was a dim yellow one, not particularly powerful and never lit the room as bright as this.

"We need to get out of here!" Steven grabbed her arm and dragged her up. She snatched up her backpack and swiftly pulled it onto her back before they slammed the cabin room behind them.

Her eye had adjusted to the flickering orange light, her mind identifying it as fire quickly.

They reached the top of the stairs which led onto the deck just as the roof began caving in, a falling piece of debris burned Sapphire's arm as it fell to the wooden floor. She gasped but did not stop.

They burst outside, the icy wind battering them as much as the rough sea battered the ship. Large waves threatened to topple the vessel and more lightning forked through the sky.

"What do we do?" Sapphire looked over her shoulder at the fire, which was spreading at an alarming rate.

"We need to send a distress signal! Hopefully a nearby ship will come to our aid." Steven pulled her along, towards the control room.

"And what if no one receives it?" Sapphire's inner pessimist kicked in, telling her they were going to die, but her optimist beat the pessimism down with a large stick.

"Then we-" A huge wave caught his attention. They stood in the middle of the deck, a good ten feet from the control room door.

He placed himself between Sapphire and the wave, knowing they wouldn't reach the safety of the control room in time.

The wave smashed into the ship, rolling over the deck and washing everything on it overboard, Sapphire and Steven included.

Sapphire's head cracked into the hand-railing as she was swept over it, her mind being pitched into the cold blackness of unconsciousness.

* * *

Sunlight, she could feel the sunlight beating down onto her face. Her body ached and shivers tore through her entity.

Her eyes opened and she was immediately blinded by the sun. Rolling onto her side and shielding her eyes she thought, wondering where she was.

Memories flashed in her brain, flickering around, showing her a crazy blur of fire, water and the cold.

She pushed herself up, ignoring the burning feeling in her left arm; it stood out against the cold shivers which rocked the rest of her body. But there was a more important thing to focus on rather than a little discomfort.

"Steven?" She called, looking around the large beach she'd washed up on. "Steven?" She stood, staggering a little on her shaky legs, but she soldiered onwards. She felt the weight of her backpack, good, at least she had something.

She scanned the beach for any signs of him; a PokéBall was being carried in and out on the gentle tide. She rushed towards it, grabbing it and releasing Metagross. The large steel Pokémon looked at her curiously.

"We need to find Steven!" She said urgently. "I'll look around here," She indicated the beach, "Can you go look in those rocks?" He floated off without question. She ran off down the beach, calling his name over and over again.

After a few moments, she heard Metagross' loud metallic call, she sprinted towards the Pokémon hoping he'd found his master.

"Did you find him?" She asked as she approached the Pokémon.

She stopped in her tracks; Steven was lying on one of the large rocks, surrounded by a pool of his own blood.

Forgetting everything she knew, she hurtled towards him, gently inspecting his condition. The majority of the blood was coming from a gash in his side, but his head was also bleeding.

"Damn it!" She cursed, digging through her bag for her first-aid kit. This bag had been with her for so many years, having travelled to the deepest portion of the Hoenn oceans and not getting a drop of water inside it. So it came as no surprise that the contents were still bone dry even though they'd been tossed through the ocean.

Of course, the little green bag was right at the bottom, underneath years worth of debris, from old Potions to Heart Scales scattered throughout the bag, all of them had settled on top of the most important thing right now.

She emptied the entire bag quickly, pulling the green bag from the mess quickly. "Damn it all! What do I do?!" She was no nurse! How could she help him?

"Calm yourself!" A woman's voice was audible catching Sapphire's attention. Sapphire looked over as a blond woman approached; she was dressed all in black, her hair obscuring half of her face.

"How can I be calm?" Sapphire's breathing quickened as she fumbled with bandages from her kit.

"You won't be much help if you're panicking. Hand those over." The woman took the bandages from Sapphire's hands, "His head injury doesn't look serious if it were he may already have passed away by now." She rolled Steven's jacket and shirt up so his stomach was exposed, upon seeing the wound the woman grabbed the first-aid kit, looking for something to clean the wound with.

Sapphire could do nothing but watch the woman work, cleaning the gash then wrapping bandages around him carefully but securely.

"We need to get him to Pastoria City, Metagross; can you help me lift him?" She turned to the Pokémon, who nodded before lifting Steven with it's psychic powers. "Come on." She barked at Sapphire.

Blinking in confusion, Sapphire scuttled along after the three, wondering why this woman spoke to Metagross as if she knew him.

It didn't take long to reach the little city, the route was quiet, but it was only early morning.

Upon entering the Pokémon Center, one of the nurses had taken Steven into a room at the back, often used for treating Pokémon, but equipped for people as well.

Sapphire waited with Metagross and this strange woman, she was leaning heavily on the metal Pokémon, shock coursing through her veins.

"What happened to you two? Wallace sent word to me that you were on your way, but you were due to arrive in about a week and a half." Sapphire's head was spinning as she tried to focus on the woman's voice.

"Who are you?" She found herself asking, disregarding the woman's questions as she had no answer for her.

"Cynthia, the Champion here in Sinnoh." The blond half-smiled at Sapphire. "I met Steven a good few years back, when he was travelling around this region."

"Oh, ok." Sapphire vaguely remembered they were supposed to be meeting up with Cynthia when they landed in Sinnoh. But this thought was pushed aside by worry.

"What happened to you two?" Cynthia pushed for answers.

"It was a storm, we were swept overboard but I don't know anything more than that." She tried thinking of what had happened afterwards, but sadly she could not recall anything.

"I wonder how you washed up here then." She mused, "That storm was hundreds of miles away from everywhere, you should have died in the sea."

"There's a happy thought." Sapphire grunted, her legs shaking more, Metagross lowered it's back so she could sit down on him. "Thanks," She patted the metal monster's strong front leg.

A nurse had put some sort of cream on her burn and wrapped a bandage over her arm, she fiddled with it absently as her mind raced through all the worst-case scenarios.

"Miss," The nurse rushed back into the foyer, addressing Cynthia, "we've treated his wounds, he should be waking up soon."

"Thank you." Cynthia headed to the room Steven lay in, Sapphire followed shakily, recalling Metagross into his PokéBall.

They sat on seats placed on either side of the bed that Steven lay in. His face pale, but his breathing even.

Sapphire felt her chest ease, she hadn't noticed how tight it had felt until the feeling was relieved.

She brushed his bangs from his eyes. At her touch, his eyes cracked open, his piercing silver eyes scanning his surroundings quickly.

"Steven, you're awake." Sapphire sighed, overjoyed that he was okay.

"Who, who are you?" He asked, looking directly into Sapphire's eyes. Her chest tightened, a feeling as though someone was tugging harshly at her heart made her gasp, pained.

* * *

**A/N: Well I managed to update again today, I hope you've enjoyed the story so fa, I think over the next two days i should have enough time to actually sort the story out before coming back to write another chapter for it. **

**Thanks for reading!**


	10. The Marcasite's Amnesia

She breathed in the cool afternoon air. Metagross, by her request, had gone back to the beach to collect her things; she was waiting outside the Pokémon Center for his return. She leaned heavily against the outer wall, breathing in sharp breaths as she processed everything that had happened after Steven woke up.

* * *

"Don't you remember me?" She'd said the tight feeling in her chest making her words come out as nothing more than a pained whisper.

"All I remember is water." He answered, looking at the sapphire-eyed girl who was sat to his left.

"You were in a storm; you were washed overboard as you travelled by ship from Hoenn to Sinnoh." Cynthia explained, drawing his marcasite eyes to her. "Do you remember who I am?" She released her partner Garchomp who held out his fin-like claw as a sign of greeting to Steven, he took it and shook it, recognition shining in his eyes.

"I do, Cynthia, right? The Champion of Sinnoh?" His smile of realization stung Sapphire somewhat.

"Yes, do you recall anything about your home Hoenn?" She looked over at Sapphire sympathetically as Steven's eyes unfocussed as he attempted to recall memories just out of his reach.

Sapphire took out her PokéNav Plus, handing it over to him to jog his memory.

"I know this, it's a PokéNav, and my father invented these years back." He smiled at the little Devon device.

Sapphire took it back, flicking through the many apps which had been installed onto the device throughout the years, opening a photo app, which had albums upon albums of her friends and images of her adventures through the years.

She found the one she was looking for and showed it to Steven, to take the PokéNav to better see the image.

"This is Wallace, my best friend right?" He asked Sapphire.

The picture had been taken in Sootopolis by Mina. In the picture stood six figures. Sapphire stood in-between Steven and Wallace, her arms over their shoulders. Phantom was floating behind her, his hands on her shoulders as he peered over her head. Milotic was on Wallace's other side, his arm around her. Steven stood, his arm around Sapphire's waist, Metagross standing in front of them all.

"And my partner Metagross, who I had on the ship…" He dropped the device and searched his pockets, his face fearful.

"Metagross is just fine." Sapphire reassured before Steven grew too panicked. "I have his PokéBall, don't worry." She picked the PokéNav up from the bed, trying to hide her emotions as best as she could. "I, I just need to get some air." After that, she'd rushed out of the room, exiting the Pokémon Center as swiftly as her legs would allow her.

* * *

She drifted down the wall, finding herself falling into a sitting position against the wall. She buried her face in her arms as tears leapt from her eyes.

The ground shuddered in unison with a loud, metallic impact. Sapphire's head snapped up.

Her backpack was swinging off of Metagross' front let, its zip fastened and it bulging with all her belongings.

"Thanks Metagross. I appreciate it," Her voice was shaky; the tears visible as they crept down her face.

The Pokémon set itself down next to her, psychically setting her bag down besides her.

"Sorry," She leaned against the Steel-Pokémon, wiping her face quickly with the back of her hand. "I have no reason to be crying, I'm just being selfish. I just can't bear to see him like this; it doesn't feel right me being there when I'm the only one he seems to be incapable of remembering."

The Pokémon Center's front doors drifted apart as Cynthia exited. "I have an urgent appointment, I wasn't expecting you two for another week and a bit, so I'm sorry to rush off but I have other plans I must attend to. I shall return in a week's time." She stood in front of Sapphire, looking down at the girl.

"Okay, thank you Cynthia, for everything you've done today." Sapphire stood, recalling Metagross into its PokéBall.

The older woman placed her hand on Sapphire's shoulder. "Do me one favour. Stay strong, for his sake."

Sapphire nodded, breathing in all her pains and worries before releasing them into the afternoon air.

She'd re-entered the Pokémon Center, passing into the room Steven occupied. She set herself on a chair beside the bed once again.

She released Metagross, who fit into the room quite well, Sapphire had to move the other chair for the metallic Pokémon to be able to approach Steven's side, but other than that, nothing needed to be done for the steel Pokémon to see his friend and partner.

She gave Steven the PokéBall, "I'll be in the lobby." She stated, turning to leave the room.

"Would you please stay?" He called to her before she left. She turned back to him, her eyes filled with questions. "I wish to ask you a few questions. I feel like I ought to know you, and you showed me that photograph of yourself Wallace and I."

She nodded to him, sitting down beside him silently. A few moments passed with neither of them speaking.

"That photograph was taken a few months back. I had visited Sootopolis to visit Wallace as he wanted news of Mina, the Milotic which he had given to me as a Feebas egg. I had no idea that at that time also you were visiting Sootopolis on your travels. It was the first time the three of us had met up in a few years, so I asked Mina to take a picture on the PokéNav, since I was recording as much of my journey on there."

He nodded, having listened to her explanation intently. "Do you have other photographs of me?" He asked.

"Quite a few yes. We've known each other for eight years now; our first meeting was in Granite Cave, just north of Dewford." She looked through her PokéNav photos, selecting one of the two of them in the air, her on Latias, he riding Latios. "This was taken years ago, Phantom, my friend Flygon, took it after we saved the Eon Pokémon from the grasps of Team Aqua."

"It seems we've had a few adventures. Why were we travelling to Sinnoh together?" He asked as he handed back the PokéNav.

She faltered, looking down. "We were travelling to Sinnoh to meet with Cynthia, to ask her about folklore. We were trying to find answers."

"Answers to what?" He asked, curiosity blooming in his silver eyes.

"It's very hard to explain, plus it's a long story."

She'd told him all about her psychic power and how she'd lost it recently. How he had vowed to help her regain it and how they'd rushed to get on a ship bound for Sinnoh so they could learn more about the ancient people who had the same psychic power as what she had. She missed out the fact she'd died and left him mourning her.

"Do you mind if I wash the blood out of your hair?" She asked, indicating some of his bangs which had turned a dark brown with the dried blood that clung to them.

"Not at all." His reply was quick.

She rose, digging in her backpack for a small bowl buried within its depths. She entered the en-suite to fill it with warm water. She plopped a flannel into the water, bringing it back through and setting it on the bedside table.

She rinsed out most of the water, wrapping the damp flannel around the relevant bangs, gently rubbing away at the dried blood.

She kept her gaze on the locks she was cleaning, not allowing her eyes to wander into the pools of deepest silver which made a well of sadness overflow in her stomach and distract her.

She snapped her eyes away, having let them drift. He was looking directly into her deepest blue eyes.

"Can you answer me one thing?" He asked, watching her as she carefully looked back at him before continuing. "When I see you I feel like I know you, I know that I know you, yet I can't remember you. Tell me, what was our relationship?"

"Our relationship?" She nearly dropped the flannel, she hadn't been expecting _that. _She thought of what she should say, how she should answer his question. "I don't know how to answer that. We've been very close friends for a long time now. We've protected the Hoenn region together, battled alongside one another."

"That wasn't what I asked." He stated, watching her eyes carefully.

She broke the contact as she stooped down to pull a comb from her backpack, running it lightly through the wet bangs before fetching a small towel from the bathroom.

She dried them as she thought. "I can't say. For me I do not know what our relationship is. I know what I wish it to be, but, I could never say what you wanted it to be. So for the sake of answering your question, we were close friends. We've been in intimate situations yes. We-We've kissed, hugged and shared a bed, heck, for the last week we've shared a bed, but I must say I don't know what you wanted from our relationship." She explained, setting the towel down on her lap as she finished. She stared at it glumly; her explanation seemed to make everything sound wrong.

"What did you want from our relationship?" He asked, forcing her to look at him by touching her chin, catching her attention. He used to do this all the time if she was looking away from him.

"I," She stood, turning away from him as she set the towel on the back of the chair. "What I wanted is no longer relevant; I ruined our relationship a few months ago." She looked over her shoulder. "I, Steven, I love you, and have done for many years. But a few months back I did something stupid with good intents and caused you a lot of suffering. I fear since then I cannot erase the pain you went through. You agreed to help me, but I wasn't sure why, I was overjoyed, but confused. You should have left it, let me suffer, and kicked me out of your life so that I may hide away, far away. I should suffer for what I did, and so my opinion on our relationship doesn't matter. Not now, not ever." She turned her head away from him, a tear threatening her eye. She had said what she needed to say.

Steven, on the way here, had been so kind, so caring. But she stood by what she said now; he needn't have agreed to help her. He needn't have cared about her. She'd saved his life, but she hadn't thought things through and lost her life because of it, dying in his arms may have seemed the perfect way to go to her at the time, but she hadn't thought about him. How watching her die affected him.

"Look at me." He commanded firmly. "Look at me and tell me what happened." His voice commanded no argument.

"Now is not the time." She stated herself. She turned around to him, "I should not have said anything, not now. I will not answer your question; I will only repeat that I love you, which does not require anything from you. You can hate me, you can shun me or demand I leave, but I shall never stop loving you Steven Stone. But now is not the time for this conversation. I will help you regain your memories as best as I can, then. And _only _then, shall we have this conversation. Now I must leave, it's getting late and I must pay for my room."

* * *

Steven did not sleep that night. His mind was plagued with images of that girl. Something fluttered within him; he could not place the feeling and was incapable of analysing what it could possibly mean.

She'd left her PokéNav, saying that if he felt so inclined, he could look through her photographs.

He had, many of them were of various Pokémon, from small Aron to a shining white Metagross he could vaguely remember. He'd spent a long time looking at this glimmering white Pokémon trying to remember it. A word drifted into his mind Silver, was that its name? He wanted his questions answering. Wanted her to tell him every detail of what they'd been through together.

He settled on another photograph. He remembers the occasion. Wattson from the Mauville Gym was retiring. The Hoenn League had thrown him a farewell party; there were many people in the background of this picture. Steven wore a formal suit of black, with a tie of deep purple. The girl was wearing a dress of sapphire hue, it dropped to just past her knees, her hair flowed down around her shoulders, being held back by only an ornate hairclip, set with a sparkling sapphire which matched her dress and eyes. Clearly she'd given someone her PokéNav, as there were a few pictures of them, dancing or posing with others. He paused on a photograph of them, dancing to a forgotten song; something warm and wet was blooming in the corner of his eye. He wiped away the lone tear as his heart ached, who was this girl to him?

He flicked to the next picture; he'd dipped her dramatically, supporting her entire weight with one arm. Her face was flared deep red, and a playful smile was tugging at his lips. He looked at the picture confused; they were clearly very close, closer than she herself had admitted to being.

He swung his legs out room under the covers, releasing Metagross into the room. "Can you take me to her?" He asked the great Psychic/Steel-type Pokémon. Steven pointed to her in the picture just in case his partner did not know who he meant.

The Pokémon nodded. Floating over to the door, but clearly indicating it couldn't fit.

Steven passed through the doorway, recalling then re-releasing his Pokémon.

Oddly, the Pokémon led him over to the main entrance of the Pokémon Center, leading him outside. Steven was glad he'd slipped his shoes on.

They walked for a while, heading away from the city and towards the sound of the sea. She was sat there in the moonlight.

He looked at her; she was perched on a rock out to sea, patting the head of a large blue dragon-like Water-type who looked as though he was very dangerous.

She seemed to be talking to it, but her words did not carry above the gentle rush of the sea.

The sand made no noise as he approached the seas edge.

She was too far out for him to reach, since she was not soaked to the bone he wondered if she had walked along the line of jagged rocks, but that seemed impossible to him.

"Who is she Metagross? Who is she and why does it hurt to be apart from her?" He whispered to his closest Pokémon.

* * *

**A/N: Thank you to everyone who is following this story or who has favourited it! It really helps me write knowing that there are a few of your who actually enjoy reading this! Thank you, THANK YOU!**


	11. The Opal Decision

"I didn't know you were in Sinnoh Maelstrom, but I should've known, you never could sit still in one place for too long." She patted the sea serpents head, glad to see a familiar face in this strange land.

It had taken her some time to reach this spot, way out to sea as she was. But she'd wanted to be alone, and, even though it was rare, one or two people did walk along the beach at night, so she sought out this isolated spot. She had whistled a familiar tune to herself, and before she knew it, the waters had burst skywards and a great monster had almost scared her senseless, until it chuckled to itself and she recognised it as her mischievous Maelstrom.

"I'm in a bit of a fix here," She scratched his head, how she used to when he was a little Magikarp, "We were looking for folklore here in Sinnoh, but we hit a rough patch of sea and were swept off the boat. But I still don't know how we managed to wash ashore here instead of die out there in the wide ocean. It makes no sense. But now Steven's lost his memories of me and I don't know how to get them back. But perhaps, he'd be happier not knowing, and forgetting me entirely." She looked at the gentle sea below her, the great beast's head resting precariously on her lap.

He shook his great blue head, knocking her off balance. She wobbled violently, almost toppling into the icy waters below.

"What?" She asked, wishing she could understand him once again.

He lifted his head and looked over at the beach. Her gaze wandered in the same direction, spotting two figures on the beach.

Steven was sat on Metagross, his feet resting on the top of Metagross' front leg; he had his elbows resting on his knees and his face resting in his hands, deep in thought.

"He shouldn't be here!" She hopped onto Maelstrom's back; he drifted to the shore, "Thanks." She patted his head; he sank back into the sea.

She approached Steven and Metagross; the silver-haired man didn't even seem to notice her, not even when she was right in front of him.

"What are you doing here? You should be resting!" She glared at him, her sapphire eyes disguising concern with irritation.

His shocking silver eyes focussed on her, confusion reigning supreme in his deep pools of silver-grey.

"Why did you leave the Pokémon Center?" She demanded.

"I couldn't sleep." He stated simply, wondering briefly why she was so annoyed with him.

"Then count Mareep." She sighed, seating herself on Metagross' other side, "Please take us back Metagross."

He looked at her, seeing her completely at ease as the steel monster floated into the air.

Flashes of various journeys on Metagross bounced around his head; her face kept popping up here and there.

He remembered perching on a white Metagross, over the calm waters of Sootopolis, which had been disturbed by some impact. A Milotic surfaced, its body wrapped around the weak, limp form of a girl, her brunette hair dripping wet, covering her face.

He remembered taking her into his arms, and travelling to the island where the Gym was seated, Wallace waited there, his face pale and fearful.

The memory brought a stab of pain to Steven's chest, what was this? What happened in Sootopolis?

It did not take long for them to reach the Pokémon Center once again. The two dismounted and Steven recalled his Pokémon, thanking him for his help.

She took him back to his room, ensuring he got back into bed without hurting himself or anything.

"Did you look through this?" She picked up the PokéNav which had been sitting on the bedside table.

"Yes, thank you, I remembered a lot of old memories." He looked into her hopeful eyes. "But, I'm sorry; I still don't quite remember you." He didn't want to tell her how his chest ached when he watched her leave or how warm she made him feel.

She nodded, not showing the pain she felt. "Okay, well, there is plenty of time to remember, don't strain yourself." She stood up. "Goodnight, sleep well." She turned and was gone before he could utter a goodnight back to her.

* * *

She'd waited up all night, thinking of anything she could do to help him. But her mind spun around and around, gaining no bright ideas. She watched the sky outside brighten as the dawn approached.

When it could be considered a reasonable hour, she rang up Wallace on the PokéNav Plus, but he did not answer the call. She tried Mr. Stone from Devon, hoping that the brilliant businessman was up already.

He was indeed.

_"Hello, Mr. Stone from Devon Corp speaking." _His voice was slightly metallic coming from the small device as he recited his practiced greeting.

"Mr. Stone, it's Sapphire." She stated, wondering why he had not recognised her PokéNav ID, it should have flashed up when she called him.

_"Sapphire? But I had heard that you met with a terrible fate in Sootopolis a few months back. I attended your funeral. May I ask who is ringing; this practical joke is not an amusing one."_

"It's very hard to explain, yes I did die in Sootopolis, but I came back. Now I'm in Sinnoh with Steven, but we were swept off the boat we were travelling on and washed ashore, Steven lost his memories. He has regained a few of them, he remembered you after seeing the PokéNav Plus. But he doesn't remember me. I was wondering if you knew anything about amnesia." She tried keeping her explanation brief.

_"How could you come back? Trust me kid; once someone dies they stay dead. And my son has not left his house since the funeral; you expect me to believe he up and went to Sinnoh? Please, I am a very busy man and I have worked to attend to." _

"Please believe me! We first met eight years ago; I assisted your employee and then delivered two things for you. A letter and a briefcase. I travelled to Dewford to give Steven this letter, and I then went to Slateport to give Captain Stern the parts within this briefcase. You gave me this very PokéNav Plus. Through the years you've updated it for me, giving me prototype apps and updates to test how they work on-the-go." She sighed.

_"Hmm, if you are Sapphire tell me one more thing. You received a Pokémon from Steven about three years back, what was it, what was it holding and what did you name it?"_

"Easy! It was a shining white Beldum, who held a Metagrossite and I named it Silver, after its colouring." She answered swiftly. Hoping this would suffice to make him answer her inquiry.

* * *

She sat now, in the small canteen in the Pokémon Center, a plate of untouched food sitting sorrowfully in front of her.

Wallace had answered when she called him after speaking with Steven's father for about half an hour. He couldn't offer any solution to her problem. From what she had been told by Mr. Stone, Steven's memories should return of their own accord. But if she found something that was close to her, for example, Steven had remembered him because Mr. Stone's biggest hobby, behind finding rare stones, was advancing in technology. The PokéNav was the embodiment of Mr. Stone's hard work. But nothing sprang to her mind. Wallace had been remembered due to the Milotic in the picture Steven had seen with him in it. Similarly, Garchomp had reminded him of Cynthia. But what could she use for him to remember her? She didn't have a constant partner. Steven had seen Phantom, who had travelled with her the longest, but hadn't remembered her then.

"Good morning." She snapped out of her own mind as she focussed on Steven, who stood in front of her, holding a plate of food for him. "May I sit down?"

Her eyes widened. But then she looked down at the table, "Of course you can." She answered, hating the feeling that she didn't know him, that he didn't know her. They weren't strangers, not in the least. But right now, they were unknown to one another. "How are you feeling?"

"Fine thanks you." His answer was short, but he still half-smiled at her as he took his seat across from her. "Your eyes look sad again." He observed.

"What?" She blinked at him, confused by his statement.

"Whenever you look at me, your eyes look so sad." He began eating.

"I'm sorry." She closed her eyes, trying to replace her mask. Her PokéNav rang shrilly, making her jump. "Please excuse me." She stood, taking her plate, dumping the untouched food into the bin before piling the plate on a mound of used plates.

She exited the Pokémon Center as she answered the call.

_"Sapphire, its Wallace." _

"Are you bringing good news?" She asked, moving through the rural city as she spoke.

_"Well, yes and no. I have an idea!" _He seemed overjoyed, almost acting as though he'd solved the world's problems. _"There might be something he'd remember you by! When you were dead, well before that, you gave him a stone." _He began explaining, her eyes widened as she remembered the peculiar stone Silver had found for her. _"He wouldn't let that stone go during the months you were gone. He examined it, analysed its properties, the whole nine yards. But that will be the item which has the most memories of you imprinted onto it for him!"_

"Of COURSE!" She exclaimed, "How could I forget that?!" She tutted at herself, "Thanks Wallace, you're a genius!"

_"Yes, you've only just realized?" _He laughed on the other end of the call.

"Yes, but there's one problem." She frowned, her sudden hope being squashed violently. "We left it at his house. It's still in Hoenn."

_"There are plenty of cruise ships going from Sinnoh to Hoenn, the tropical weather here is quite the tourist attraction. It's only when you try booking one to go from Hoenn to Sinnoh when it becomes a problem."_

"But I need answers to my questions. I need to ask Cynthia about folklore here. Should I send him back to you?" She mused. Wondering what course of action would be best. "He's injured; I wouldn't want to send him off on his own." She frowned.

"I'm not leaving." Steven spoke from right behind her.

_"Well, I believe we have ourselves a little eavesdropper, good morning Steven." _Wallace had a smile in his voice.

"I won't go and leave you here." He stated simply.

"Your memories will return faster if you're at home, in familiar environments. There's no point you staying here at this point in time." She sighed.

_"You don't have any of your partners with you Sapphire. If you're challenged by a trainer or need to protect yourself from a wild Pokémon you have no one to help you." _Wallace interjected.

"I know this region; you don't seem to know it well. I expect this is your first time in Sinnoh-"

_"It is her first time outside of the Hoenn region, let alone in Sinnoh."_

"Yes _thank _you for your enlightening input Wallace!"

_"You're welcome; I'm here to help after all."_

"I will not leave you here alone, it's a clear decision for me to make. I will stay here with you and help you with your goal."

_"Well there's the second time he's vowed to aid your quest young princess." _

"Shut up Wallace." Sapphire sighed, a smile on her face at his antics. "Hey, could you send the stone over with Phantom. Rough weather and long distances shouldn't be a problem for him. He should find us sooner or later."

_"I'll ask Mina to find him for me and I'll send him off as soon as possible." _Wallace answered her swiftly. Hanging up the call after blowing a kiss through the speaker. Sapphire tutted as she put the device back in her pocket.


	12. Amber: An Old Tale

_"So you're saying that a giant meteoroid is heading for Hoenn?!" She repeated, she could not remember his entire monologue but this one detail was stuck in her head for some reason._

_"That is the foundation of what I have been saying yes." Mr. Stone nodded. "We must act quickly if we have any chance of saving ourselves. The meteoroid has been calculated to impact in the seas south-east of Sootopolis City. The impact alone will obliterate all of Hoenn, the resulting shock wave and meteorological disturbance would decimate the rest of our world." He frowned deeply, his tone very serious._

_"We have a plan to warp the meteoroid off its current course, but we need to act fast in order to make the necessary preparations." Steven turned to Sapphire._

_"Yes, we both agreed that you were the most reliable and fast-acting trainer we could count on to aid our attempts. Although, Steven here may want your help for other reasons than your reliability." The President of Devon Corp winked at Sapphire._

_"Dad."_

_"Alright, alright, he still can't take a joke. Miss, we need you to travel to Dewford to search Granite Cave for meteor shards, we need a couple of these shards in order to use the Link Cable and save Hoenn."_

_"I shall take the Link Cable and meet you at the Mossdeep Space Center when you have collected the shards." Steven turned on his heels and began walking away._

_"Steven." He paused, looking back at his father who had spoken, "Be safe." Mr. Stone finished, watching as is son nodded and vanished down the staircase._

* * *

Sapphire jolted upright, panicking for a moment, thinking she was still in Hoenn and something was going to destroy the world.

After looking around and recognising her surroundings as those of a room in the Pastoria Pokémon Center, she relaxed, wondering about the unusual, oddly realistic dream she'd just had.

"Good morning." She was greeted by Steven, who was eating at the canteen area.

"Morning." She replied, sitting across the table from him.

"I've been thinking, about everything I know of Sinnoh. I think our first move should be to head to Celestic Town, where I believe there is the most knowledge of this regions folklore. After that we should head to Canalave City, there is a large library there where we can find all sorts of legends and tales written in the books there."

Sapphire blinked. He'd figured this all out? Decided upon the best ways of moving forward from this point. Inwardly she was glad he had decided to help her instead of going home. She would never have known where to start!

"Okay, that sounds like a great plan! Do you know the way?" She asked him curious as to where exactly these places were located.

"If memory serves, then yes I do indeed know where they are." He took out his PokéNav and flicked through the AreaNav app. "Here, this is Celestic Town, and this is Canalave City."

"Ah, I see, then where are we?" He pointed to a spot on the map, far from both their desired locations. Sapphire groaned, "This means lots of walking." She sighed.

"We can take Metagross to Celestic Town; it shouldn't take us too long to get there with his help. However it would be a little unfair to rely on him to take us everywhere, so from there we will cut through a tunnel of Mount Coronet which will bring us to Eterna City, then we travel along this route…" He traced his fingers along the path they would take, heading through a few cities towns and a forest to come to Canalave City off the west coast of the mainland of Sinnoh.

She nodded, frowning at the map, she was completely lost, and couldn't remember what he'd just been saying.

"Are you ready to head out now? If we set off now we can make it to Celestic Town before noon." He smiled at her.

"Wait, wait!" She looked at him, "You still need to heal before we do anything."

"I'm fine, healthy as a Ponyta. Come on, get your things and we'll head out."

She found herself gaping at the scenery flying below her. This region was nothing like her beloved home Hoenn. A huge mountain range sliced the region in two, making it look difficult to get from one side to another, but she concluded that there were tunnels leading through the mountains as there was no way an ordinary person could pass over the mountain just to get to the next city.

Thick clouds of mist loomed over the route they were above now. It looked freezing down there and she couldn't even see the ground anymore, the silvery fog blotted it all out.

"We're nearly there." Steven caught her attention, drawing it from the scenery below. "There's Celestic Town." He directed her gaze towards a tiny town sitting just outside of the fog.

They landed swiftly, both thanking Metagross for the help before he was called back into his PokéBall.

"There doesn't seem to be much here." Sapphire took in the small town's sights within moments.

"There isn't. This is a small town which has been here for hundreds of years. The elder here has an immense amount of knowledge to do with the regions lore." He began walking towards the largest house in the city, having to walk around a deep dip in the middle of the town.

He gently knocked on the door, Sapphire stood behind him awkwardly, she didn't know these people, but he seemed to know what he was doing.

"Oh hello young man! It feels like it's been years since you last visited this town." An elderly woman stood stooped in the doorway. "What can I do for you?" She smiled up at Steven, her face creased beyond belief.

This woman seemed ancient to Sapphire, who had met elderly c citizens but never _ancient _people.

"I came to ask about an old tale you may know something about." He beamed at the little woman.

"Please come in, take a seat and I shall do my best to help you. Oh, who's your friend?" The two entered the large house, taking two cushioned seats at a large table, turning them to face the elderly woman who settled in an armchair near a fireplace.

"This is Sapphire; it is really because of her that I have travelled back to Sinnoh." She looked around the room quickly, it was decorated warmly, thick rugs lay across the bare wood floor, there were armchairs and cushioned seats littering the large room they were in.

"It's a pleasure to meet you." Sapphire greeted, smiling warmly at the woman.

"So you wish to know about ancient history?" The woman enquired.

"Yes. I was wondering if you knew anything about a race of ancient people who could use psychic powers like Pokémon."

"I believe I have heard a tale of that nature. I believe it is of Hoenn origin. A people were trapped in a deep sea cave. The people relied on a great Pokémon to live down there until they could escape the sealed chamber and return to the world above them." The woman paused, looking at Sapphire.

"Yes, that's the story which we are looking for. I wonder do you know anything more about this story."

"From what I know, they feared this Pokémon as much as they worshiped it, knowing that it could do great harm as well as good. They travelled around to seek out a way to seal the Pokémon away in the dark so that it would never run rampant throughout the entire world. They sought out the help of three golem Pokémon who lived in Hoenn, and then with the power of these three Pokémon, they subdued the Pokémon and brought him to Sinnoh. Where they sealed it away, only to be awakened if the three golems were to ever approach its slumbering form at the same time."

"And this great Pokémon granted them psychic abilities?" Sapphire found herself perched on the edge of her seat wishing to know more and more of this tale.

"Yes, the people learned much from that great Pokémon. In a few years they could speak with Pokémon, move objects which could be miles away from them, read the minds of people and Pokémon and even, the strongest of these people, could bend the will of those around them, forcing them to do what they wished. However, these people believed in peace, they had lived in cramped conditions for many decades, helping one another instead of fighting; they didn't understand why the rest of the world was so eager to fight. So when the great Kalos War began, they were forced to attend, but they refused to fight, and were eventually wiped out, only one surviving and spreading the legend of her people before she too vanished. I only wish I could find out what happened to the last of that great people." The woman stared into the distance, forgetting that she had company completely.

"For the information you've given me, I think it only fair that I tell you what happened to that woman." Sapphire claimed the woman's entire attention. "I found a tablet with ancient language on it, it stated that the last of the people was planning to make a deal with a great Pokémon revered as a deity among a certain people, she wanted her knowledge and power to pass to one when the world needed that knowledge the most." She twisted the truth into a lie, a lie of how she knew this, but the woman didn't question her. "May I ask you one more thing? Do you know which Pokémon she might have made this deal with? A Pokémon known as a deity?"

"I can only think of the great Pokémon, Arceus. He was said to have shaped the Sinnoh region with his thousand arms. He is the only Pokémon I can think of who is widely known as a deity and has for thousands of years."

Sapphire stood. "One final thing, do you know where the people sealed the great Pokémon?"

"An underground temple in Snowpoint City, north of here."

"Thank you very much, you've been an extreme help, how may I ever repay you?"

"Tell me truthfully, why are you, who are so young, so interesting in ancient stories about a people who died out thousands of years ago?"

"Because I inherited great psychic powers when I was born. I grew up wondering why I had such strange powers, recently I lost these powers, and I want to know if it is possible to regain them." She watched the woman's reaction; she didn't seem to believe Sapphire. "I gave my life to prevent the super-ancient Pokémon of land and sea demolishing the Hoenn region and severely devastating the rest of the world. When I was dead, I met with the last of the ancient people who after some explaining, gave me a choice, to move onto paradise, or return to the world of which I came. I chose the latter as I had left those I love back on this world; paradise wouldn't be paradise without them." She stopped herself from glancing at Steven, keeping her gaze steady and focussed on the woman who seemed surprised at her answer, finally seeming to believe her story.

"I've known tales more peculiar than that being true. I wish you the best of luck in your quest. And hope you two have a lovely time together. You obviously mean a lot to each other."

Sapphire blinked in confusion but nodded to the woman. "Thanks again, you've been an extreme help."

They stood outside the elder's house. "Well, that negates the need to visit Canalave." Steven glanced over at Sapphire. "Seems you are surprised that the elder knew so much."

"Yes, I wasn't expecting so much information so fast." Sapphire muttered, thinking over everything they were just told. "So we head to Snowpoint City?" She asked looking over at him for certification she had things right in her head.

"Yes, if you wish to learn more about this Pokémon which gave the people their powers."

"I do, I wish to meet it if I can."

"We might not be able to free it without the Regice, Regirock and Registeel. Those seem to be the keys needed in order to unleash this Pokémon. This in itself may not be the best of ideas." He rested his chin on his hand, the little familiar gesture making Sapphire beam widely. "See," he hadn't noticed, "the Pokémon had been sealed away in the darkness by those people and so may not be have positive feelings towards people."

"I guess there is that. But we can't just give up." She challenged, crossing her arms over her chest.

"I never suggested we did. My suggestion is that we wait for your Flygon and challenge this Pokémon. Metagross and a Flygon should be more than a match for most Pokémon.

"So we wait in the Pokémon Center here until Phantom arrives." She started off towards the red-roofed building.


	13. Frozen Apatite Journey

_"You saved my life once before, but my friend, I ask for your assistance one more time." She yelled into the clouds, where something enormous stirred. "There is a great threat to our world; a meteoroid is headed towards us. Will you help me protect the Earth?" A roar shook the tower she stood upon._

_Looking around, she saw the flat, triangular roof of this tall tower, vast seas were visible below. She had no recollection of how she got up here, but that was driven from her mind when the Pokémon descended._

_Its body was an emerald green, decorated by gold, something in her bag reacted to its presence. _

_'In order to do what you ask of me, I need more power. I need the power of a meteor which fell thousands of years ago. I can sense it; do you have a shard of this meteor?' Its booming regal voice sounded loudly in her head._

_She took out a rock from her bag, tossing it towards the legendary Lord Rayquaza._

_His body glowed bright as he swallowed the rock, he was Mega Evolving! When he burst from the cocoon of bright energy, his body was more streamlined, capable of great things, whether that is protection or destruction._

_An emerald wind burst from nowhere, similar green clouds covered the misty white puffs which had occupied the skies just a moment before._

_'You have breathing apparatus; I suggest you use it human there is no oxygen in outer space. My energy will protect your body.' He lowered himself, so she was able to clamber onto his back, within moments he was darting up into the atmosphere._

* * *

"Excuse me? Miss, there is a rather energetic Flygon in the Center, holding a note addressed to you." One of this town's nurses was stood in the doorway to her room.

She sat up in bed, the mists of sleep recoiling as she rose and took the note, written in elegant script, Wallace's handwriting.

"He is my partner, I apologise for any inconvenience he may have caused." She smiled at the nurse, who seemed rather haggard.

Just after the nurse had exited, Phantom burst in, tackling Sapphire to the ground, encasing her in his arms and wings.

"Phantom! Lemme go!" She struggled against the overwhelming Pokémon. Eventually he did let her stand, but it took quite some time in order for him to let her go from his embrace. "It's lovely to see you too! But I think you broke one of my ribs!"

The dragon Pokémon crossed his arms, giving her a disapproving look, over exaggerating his gestures; he must know that she couldn't speak with him as she could before.

He held out the stone he had brought all this way, it sat in a little pouch attached to his arm. She untied it and placed it on the edge of the bed, looking at the letter Wallace had sent along as well.

Curiously it hadn't been damaged by the long flight to Sinnoh; her mind mulled this one over until she opened the envelope and pulled out the thin paper within. It read:

_'Dear Sapphire_

_I've done as much research into the legends of Sinnoh, and those of Hoenn. From what I can tell, the Pokémon mentioned in the sealed chamber was another golem, much like Regice, rock and steel. However this Pokémon is much more powerful than the three others._

_If you intend to fight this monster, ensure that you are well prepared. I wouldn't want to hear you two had gotten yourselves hurt in the attempt to defeat this creature._

_Also, legend tells of another Pokémon, one which has unlimited power and has mastered all types. However, I am currently unable to find out any information of how to summon or find this Pokémon. I shall send word once I do._

_Yours sincerely _

_Wallace  
Stand-in Hoenn Champion'_

She was now dressed and ready for the day. The sapphire sat in an outer pocket of her backpack now resting against her legs as she sat in the canteen of this Pokémon Center. The food here wasn't as nice as back in Pastoria, there it had been fresh; here it seemed clumsily done by an inexperienced hand.

Nevertheless, she had eaten every morsel. She knew she needed the strength and energy the food would provide in order to make it to Snowpoint before the day was done.

Steven sat across from her, finishing his own breakfast, he had warned her to wear warm clothes, so she was wearing her very warmest, but she expected it still wouldn't be enough to stop the chill of _actual _snow from entering her body.

Sapphire had fed Phantom a hearty breakfast, half tempted to ask him to take herself and Steven to Snowpoint City instead of them walking all the way there. But they had agreed that their Pokémon needed their strength about them in order to face the Pokémon resting in the temple there.

Phantom had flown to the city ahead of them, with a scribbled note from Sapphire to the staff at the Pokémon Center there. He would be buffeted greatly by the snow as they travelled, he'd grow tired and weak by the journey alone.

"Are you ready to go?" The silver-haired man asked her.

She rose in answer, taking her empty plate over to the stack of dirty dishes before exiting the Center with him.

* * *

He looked at home in this cave, he'd needed to get Metagross to push aside a few boulders which lay in their way, but the gleam in his eyes said only too clearly that he was eager to explore deeper into this cave, into the mountain once again.

She brushed her fingers along the stone wall of the cave, feeling the chilled rock under her touch, the rough hewn wall unsmoothed by any man or his machines.

The tunnel was only short, but as they turned a corner, an icy breeze blew through the exit. Snow had fallen into the cave, settling crisp and white on the floor of the cave.

She was amazed at it, it was purest white and so peculiar to her, she stooped and scooped up a handful. It was cold, freezing, but it had the strangest texture to it, being both powdery and solid, with diamond shards of ice hidden beneath the opaque white fluffy exterior.

Steven watched her face closely, seeing curiosity turn into amazement before him. He assumed this was her first time seeing the meteorological phenomenon; she looked like a child in this instant.

She dropped the half-melted snow, wiping her hand to free it from the cold water before stepping out of the cave into the blizzard outside.

Immediately, she sneezed, flakes of snow interfering with her breathing. After that she crossed her arms, the cold instantly chilling her, but she still continued, refusing to show just how uncomfortably cold she actually was.

To distract her, she took the sapphire out of her backpack, turning it over in her hand. It was indeed the strangest stone she had ever seen, and Steven had taken her through his collection on numerous occasions.

"Here," She looked at him, holding the stone out to him. "Do you remember this stone?"

He took it from her, looking intensely at it. Turning it over and staring, wide-eyed at the shine of bright amethyst upon the blue stone. It sat perfectly in his palm, looking like it belonged there. "No," he frowned deeply, his face showing his attempts to recall the little stone. "I don't remember ever seeing this stone before."

"Oh, okay." She took it back from him, tucking it away back into its pocket.

He observed her features again, seeing the sadness looming in her eyes once again. For some reason, whenever he saw this in her eyes, when she let her guard down thinking he was looking away, it made him fee. Upset. He hated seeing her unhappy and on the occasions he did catch her wearing this expression, he found himself making a conscious effort to make her smile again.

But this time he couldn't think of a way how. All he could do was hope she would be happy once they reached Snowpoint.

They'd spent about a week together now, and still he felt as though he didn't know anything about her. He wanted to know more, how she felt when she saw the sights she had seen, what she felt when she reunited with her Flygon, what she had seen along her journeys and how she'd felt upon her victories and failures. He wanted to know everything, yet he felt like he already should know.

"Can you tell me how we first met?" He settled with, hoping she would be happier talking rather the staying silent.

She smiled at him, "Well, it was eight years ago, but I remember it as though it was yesterday…"

* * *

The blizzard worsened as they reached the middle of the route which led to Snowpoint City, they both had their heads down, to protect their faces from the hurling hail.

They came upon a building, a sign reading 'REST HOUSE', they pushed through the door into the warm interior, shivering gratefully as they saw the roaring fire heating the room.

Sapphire shut the door quickly, denying the cold wind from entering after them.

The house was empty at the moment; a small note lay upon a desk to their left: 'Just popped to the city to pick up supplies, make yourselves at home.'

And so they did, taking off their sodden jackets and hanging them over the fire to dry, they sat on the bare-wood floor just in front of the flames, letting the amber embers warm them.

They spent about an hour, just sitting in front of the fire as Sapphire told him more tales of the two of them, from when they had faced Team Aqua together to save Latias to the story of when they had found the sealed cave. He'd asked her about Wattson's retirement party and she had answered him, telling of how they had danced once he had shown up, late.

He smiled at her storytelling, building up these memories of times they had shared, matching a few of them to pictures he had seen on her PokéNav.

Eventually they stood, shrugging back into their now dry and warm jackets before they headed back into the storm, once again, bound for Snowpoint City.

Sapphire thought that, if left by herself, she would be lost in this blizzard and eventually freeze to death. But with a travelling companion like Steven, she had no fear of this; he always pointed her in the right direction and was doing so here also. He knew the way, knowing to stick to the left of the route in order to be able to continue northwards, instead of wandering into the eastern open space of this portion of the route.

Finally, the hail slowed, still continuing to pelt them as they walked, but not pounding them into the round like it had in the centre of the route.

"We're almost there now, just a little farther."

They broke through the tree-line, greeted by a flat plain of snow and sounds of the sea.

Sapphire looked across to her right and saw a sailor pottering around his ship, bobbing on the seas edge.

"Here we are." Steven said happily, leading her carefully down the icy steps, before helping her up another flight of equally icy steps to a snowflake shaped city.

Different sections of the city branched out, in six directions, the Gym sat in the dead centre of the snowflake.

They found the Pokémon Center, Phantom was inside waiting for them there.

"It's late, we should stay here the night and set out for the temple in the morning. Are you ready for that?" He asked her as they approached the counter to pay for two rooms for the night.

"If it helps me reclaim my powers then yes. Do you mind if I speak with Metagross this evening?" She asked as they rang the bell sat on the counter.

"With Metagross?" He looked at her thoughtful face, "That should not be a problem, may I ask why?"

"We intended to ask Metagross about my mental state while we were on the boat heading here. But the storm prevented us from ever asking it about my mind." After they had paid and signed in, she led him to a table and explained to him what she knew.

Sapphire sat, cross-legged on the floor of one of the rooms, face-to-face with the great Steel-type. She could feel it in her mind; it was such an odd sensation, was this how it had felt when she read the minds of Pokémon and people? It wasn't uncomfortable, it was just unusual.

Metagross was doing its best not to shred her mind into ribbons. It was unused to using its powers like this, normally it would use them to confuse an opponent or use it to strike harshly at an opponent's mind. But when she had asked it, it could not deny her this simple request.

It pulled back, bringing its mind from hers.

Her shining blue eyes opened, staring into the crimson irises of the Pokémon. "Was there any truth in what she said? Is my mind fragile, too weak to possess the powers I once had?" She was aware that he knew the ins and outs of her previous powers, it had examined them when they first met, to gage whether she was a threat to Steven.

It shook its head, cementing her determination to reclaim what she had lost.

"Thank you my friend." She hugged it awkwardly; it flinched slightly, unused to such contact.

She recalled Metagross back into his PokéBall, standing to exit the room and return the Pokémon to its owner.

* * *

**A/N: This story's hit OVER 1,000 VIEWS! Thank you EVERYONE who has stuck with me this long! You're all AMAZING!**

**QUESTION!**

**I thought I might as well as. Since it's a landmark, i want to know.**

**What is your favourite Pokémon of Hoenn? **

**I must say at the moment mine is Milotic, simply because I've been trying a new method of battling with a Milotic and he's become my resident TANK! But Flygon and Metagross hold their own special places in my heart as well.**


	14. Zircon Duels Amongst Ice

"It's freezing in here!" Sapphire complained crossing her arms over her chest, Phantom mimicking her action, flying behind her with his arms crossed over his chest as they entered the temple.

"Yes it is rather chilly, mind the ice!" Sapphire stepped forward, her foot meeting frictionless ground and she slid onto her backside.

"Ouch!" She further complained, slipping and sliding in her attempt to get up off of the freezing ground.

"I did warn you." He stood on a snowy patch, leaning down to heave her to her feet once again. "Here, take this, It'll keep you a little warmer." He took off his jacket and draped it over her shoulders.

"Thank you, but won't you get cold?" She glanced over at him, concerned for his wellbeing.

He brushed it off, stepping onto the ice and sliding across the dark room. "I'll be fine, come on, be careful not to slip over again."

She hesitated, Phantom pushed her, so that she slid across the ice, he held her up, keeping her standing as she slid across the flat ground.

It took quite some slipping and retracing of steps to reach the lowest level of the underground temple, the temperature dropping as they went further and further downwards into the dark, abandoned temple.

A gigantic creature stood sentient, covered in ice, looking as though it had been there for at least a few thousand years.

"Is this it?" She asked, peering up at the distant Pokémon, a spicy bubble of fear making her hesitate.

"Yes, I do believe so; this must be the Pokémon the elder spoke of. So how do we wake it," He mused as he crossed his arms, cupping his chin.

She stepped forward, sliding across to a boulder right in front of the creature. Something, something unconscious, took her mind over. She found herself reaching for the Pokémon, touching its enormous leg.

Steven stood gaping as an inhuman light illuminated Sapphire from the inside. Three coloured lights seemed to seep through her arm, an ice-blue, an earthy-brown and a steel grey. He recalled seeing three Pokémon who resembled this giant, standing on the mountain surrounding Sootopolis, something was connected to them by three ribbons of coloured light, but he couldn't tell what.

He looked into her blank eyes. "Sapphire?" He called, making to step forward, but Phantom blocked his path, holding him back.

The ice began to melt as the lights seeped into the colossal Pokémon. When all three had left her, Sapphire's body sagged, lying across the rock in front of the monster, which began to move as the ice cracked and snapped from its body.

Phantom flew quickly, snatching up Sapphire from before the Pokémon and flying back to Steven, who called out his partner, preparing to fight the gigantic Pokémon.

Sapphire's eyes opened, she stood back up, staring in bewilderment at the Pokémon, who now turned to them, roaring loudly, the horrendous sound echoing in the ice-ridden temple making it marrow-chillingly haunting.

"Use Earth Power," She called to Phantom, "before it regains all its strength."

"Metagross, Hammer Arm," Steven urged his partner, tapping the stone at his breast to unlock the powers of the Key Stone.

The ground beneath the giant's feet exploded upwards as Phantom focussed his energy on manipulating the earth. Metagross flew into the rising column of ground to deliver the heavy blow, Phantom parting the earth so that it did not harm his ally.

The goliath's fist set alight, it aimed to wallop Metagross with a powerful Fire Punch while the Steel-types Speed was down.

"Take the blow Phantom," Sapphire yelled, egging on her Pokémon to fly swiftly in-between the fire and Metagross, knowing it would do little against him.

The Pokémon's opposite fist was covered in ice. Phantom took the Fire Punch squarely, but the second fist was headed straight for him.

"Metagross, intercept Ice Punch with Bullet Punch." Steven waved his hand, his partner quickly obeying his command.

"Tailwind, we need to increase Speed." Sapphire stated, watching as Phantom stirred up a quick wind in the temple to aid both he and Metagross. "Now use Steel Wing." She watched her Pokémon attack alongside Metagross.

The Pokémon let a small bright light flicker from it, it circled around Metagross. Who, in confusion, turned to its ally, making to attack the Dragon-type instead of the enemy.

"Protect," Sapphire called to her Pokémon as Metagross attacked, hitting only a glowing light of shielding energy.

"Metagross, focus," Steven said plainly, watching his Pokémon attempt to shake off the confusion, "Use Hammer Arm once again."

Metagross turned and attacked his actual enemy this time, hitting the powerful Pokémon with an equally powerful move. The Pokémon retaliating with Fire Punch once again, this time not missing its target. The monster tried to follow this up with a Crush Grip, but Phantom flew in the way, deterring the attack by using Dragon Claw, scraping its claws across the Pokémon's front.

The Pokémon was weakening, but Metagross was equally run down, it returned to its floating position, ignoring how exhausted it was.

The Pokémon turned to the beaten down Steel-type Pokémon, rushing towers it for on massive Giga Impact.

Phantom flew in the way protecting the slower steel Pokémon, replacing itself with a plush-looking doll which was knocked flying away from the Pokémon, vanishing when it hit the wall of the temple. Phantom beat his wings slowly; the manoeuvre had taken a lot of energy from him, leaving him open for an attack.

Metagross followed the protective move by retaliating with a swift Bullet Punch. Phantom regained some energy and held out his arms, calling upon all his remaining strength to finish the fight with an almighty Draco Meteor.

The ceiling fell apart, great stone boulders slamming into the giant Pokémon, one after another, hit upon hit the relentless barrage only ceased when Phantom could no longer keep it up. But by that point the Pokémon was finished, it collapsed backwards lying on the ice.

Sapphire drew out a few items from her bag, slipping and sliding quickly towards the three Pokémon, Metagross returning to his normal appearance. She sprayed the two allies with Full Restores so that their energy was replenished. She then approached the gigantic Pokémon holding a golden stone in the shape of a thin diamond. She touched this against the Pokémon's forehead, watching as the object glowed briefly, transferring its revitalising energy to the Pokémon. "Get back you two," She warned the two Pokémon who had fought so perfectly together.

She stepped backwards, looking up at the Pokémon as it stood up once again. This time it did not roar or go to attack.

"Hopefully we have proven ourselves to you now. We did not come here to harm you or to subject you to another few thousand years of solitude. I only come seeking answers," She reasoned with the Pokémon, her voice sounding stronger than she felt as it echoed around her.

_"Indeed, I have tested your will human. I will answer your questions, and then you shall grant me my freedom."_

"Agreed." She looked over at the trio, keeping their distance from the Pokémon. "Thousands of years ago, you granted psychic powers to a group of people who lived in a sealed cave alongside you before they betrayed you. I was once the owner of such power. Until recently I was able to use a portion of this power as my own. But that power has been taken from me now. I wonder, do you know of any way I may get it back?"

_"There is a way yes. However I cannot grant you this power, I gave it all to those humans who lived in the chamber with me. I am but a Normal-type now I do not possess the power I once did." _His ancient regal voice filled the chamber, _"If you wish to have the power once again, you need to seek out the one who masters all. He can bless you and your Soul Stone which shall allow you to perform psychic feats as you once did."_

"May I ask what a Soul Stone is?"

_"You may. Those who lived in the chamber could not contain their powers in their body. It would have torn them apart, so each bonded to a stone, which would contain the bulk of their powers, they would carry this stone everywhere and with it they could controlee vast quantities of power. The power you possessed was not large enough for you to require a Soul Stone. But if you wish to regain this power, you need to seek out this stone in and appeal to the master of all."_ He turned to the trio waiting near the stairs which would lead them outside. _"And if you should accompany this young female, the great one may put your mind at ease with answers. Now I shall take my leave." _

The ground rushed upwards, swallowing the Pokémon.

She looked towards her friends, stepping and sliding towards them. "So now what?" She looked to the three of them.

Steven smiled at her, offering her his hand to lead her up the stairs. "We keep looking for this 'great one'. Our search is not over yet."


	15. Rose Quartz In The Forest

"Have you found anything new?" Sapphire spoke into the PokéNav Plus, eager to hear that Wallace had learned more about the lore of Sinnoh.

_"I've heard tell of a flute which summons a great Pokémon. However I have not yet managed to hear any rumours about where it could be. I shall keep looking while juggling being the Champion. You two always make work for me!" _She rolled her eyes but smiled at his false-irritated voice.

"Thank you; Call me when you learn anything new!" She hung up before he could carry on about his workload.

She and Steven were in a place called Eterna City. It looked like an old city to her, filled with elderly people who told grandiose tales of extraordinary proportions. Steven had remembered just about everything about his life, everything except any memory about or including her. Her hope of him fully recovering from this strange amnesia was growing very thin.

She was sitting in a forest just southwest of the city. She'd come here for a bit of fresh air and solitude to think of what to do next. It had been a spell since their battle in Snowpoint Temple. They had heard nothing of the colossal Pokémon. But they had heard many myths and legends circling around the great deity Pokémon that it had mentioned. However, nothing was feasible or in any way helpful. They mainly told of how this Pokémon was said to have created all of Sinnoh with its thousand arms. But a Pokémon with a thousand arms seemed a rather impractical kind of Pokémon to her, unless it was gigantic. Perhaps this Pokémon would know what had happened to Steven, and how they had woken in Sinnoh when they had been swept off a boat in the middle of the ocean. Nothing seemed to add up anymore and it made Sapphire's head ache and pound.

Closing her eyes, she let a sigh escape from her lips. They'd sent a message to Cynthia, who was going to meet them in the city in a day or so. But Sapphire didn't like waiting around, she needed to get out there, learn more about everything that circled around them, just know _something! _

"Are you alright Sapphire?" Her eyes shot open, she hadn't heard him approaching. But there he was, Steven, staring down at her, concern in his eyes.

"I'm fine; I just needed some fresh air." She shuffled her position, so she sat up a little straighter against the tree. Her back ached and screamed at her at the movement, she had been sat slumped for a good few hours now.

"You need some air so you come wandering into a maze-like forest and hide in a thick patch of bushes at the base of a tree?" He moved closer and sat against the wide-trunked tree next to her. "Tell me what's wrong, please." He took her hand in his. The unfamiliar familiar touch sent shivers up Sapphire's spine but also an ache through her chest.

"I just, hate not knowing anything. We get a lead and find a gigantic Pokémon, then find out we need to hunt down an even more elusive Pokémon somewhere else. And I don't understand why the Pokémon in the temple woke up when I walked near it, and what was those lights? And just what happened to us after we were washed off the ship? And why can you remember everything but me? I hate it all! This warped journey I dragged you on. It has brought nothing but questions and suffering."

He touched her face gently, smoothing out the lines of worry with his fingertips. When he touched her, he saw her face fill with emotion, both deep sorrow and something else, something harder to pinpoint. He resolved to ask her. "Who am I to you Sapphire?" Looking deep into her eyes, he saw that he'd caught her off-guard.

"We're just really good friends." She stated, but her eyes betrayed her.

"Please don't lie to me."

"Oh alright, but it's only a half-lie. We were just good friends, neither of us had really made any kind of move. But I know my feelings for you…" His eyes pushed her onward. "I know how I feel… I know me…" She swallowed before speaking on. "I've loved you for many years now." She looked away from him, hiding her face which had welled with tears as she once again thought of how he didn't remember her, to him, she was simply a stranger.

He blinked, he hadn't expected her to actually admit to him her true feelings, he had expected she would brush it aside and generalise it. But she had been bold and actually said that she loved him. Now she refused to look at him, her bangs obscuring her face, but a tear splashed down onto her hand, giving it away.

"You tried to protect me from the wave; you wrapped me in your arms and held me close so I wouldn't get hit by the brute force of the water. I can't help but think that it's partially my fault this happened. You were dragging me along because I was in a daze, if you weren't pulling me along in your wake, you would have probably already have crossed the deck and gotten to the safety of the control room. Then nothing would have gone wrong and you wouldn't have gone through this." She sobbed softly after her words were finished.

He was cautious as he placed an arm around her shoulders, pulling her to his side gently. He did feel something blossoming in his chest as he did so. But when he tired placing it, it fluttered and vanished into nothingness.

She shrank away, shuffling around to lean against the thin bows of a bush and face him. "Don't." Her eyes were sharp, not angry, at least not at him. "I came here to isolate myself, because I knew you would try and comfort me." She roughly wiped her eyes with the back of her hand. "I don't deserve sympathy. I caused you so much suffering I deserve worse than this! I deserve to be dragged through hell and yanked into the deepest pits of despair!" She turned her back on him, huddling her knees up to her chin and staring at the bush intently, like it had done her a great personal wrong.

He shuffled forward and wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her to lean against his chest. "Nothing you could do would hurt me so that I would no longer care for you." He whispered in her ear. "I may not remember you, but I know deep down that I cared for you greatly. I can even tell it in my Metagross. I can tell by the way he acts around you that we were very close." He rested his chin on her head and examined the feelings dancing in his stomach at the close proximity to her. He felt nervous to say the least. His emotions gave away what his memory had forgotten. Just from knowing her these past few days, he had grown to enjoy being in her company, and at this moment, he never wanted to let her go.

He felt her relax as she leaned into his embrace. She felt her stomach flutter with a million Beautifly. She wished him to recall her, to say he remembered everything, to kiss her like he had. She wanted what she could not have and she felt horrid for wishing him to remember her just so she felt loved once again.

"You don't understand," Her whisper was so small he could barely make out the words. "I-I left you for a while, a few months. For those few months you were suffering, all the time suffering. You didn't leave the house, you didn't travel or even look for stones. You were in your house for all that time, suffering because I… Because I left." She took out the sapphire she had given him before she died. The amethyst shine was dying out; it was becoming a regular sapphire with increasing speed. The mysterious stone drew his attention as well. "I'd hoped that an object might jog your memories. That this stone would help you remember me. It was a special stone, but now its shine is fading away to nothing and it is becoming an ordinary sapphire." 'Much like me, an ordinary Sapphire. There's nothing special about me anymore.'

He took it from her hand and examined it. "I think it's still special. Every stone has something which makes it special. Whether it is its uniqueness or something simple like the thoughts and feelings people have imprinted onto the stone. This one has something very special about it. It just needs discovering. You can never say something is not special until every possibility has been examined. There is still something spectacular just waiting to be found." She looked over her shoulder at his expression - it burst with sincerity - he was not simply lying to her to make her feel better, about both the stone and herself. As it was obvious he had picked up her hint of her simply being ordinary as well.


	16. Tanzanite Flute Of Old

"The 'great one'?" Cynthia thought for a moment. "Well, that'll be Arceus; I can think of no other who would fit that description and gain that level of respect from a Pokémon like Regigigas. All I really know about Arceus is that he is said to have mastered all Pokémon types and can become any one that he wishes. He is also said to have shaped Sinnoh with his thousand arms." She pondered, thinking deeply at what she knew about the lore of this Pokémon. "It has been rumoured that he can only be summoned by the sound of a certain flute lost to the ages. I'm not sure how I can help you. I know nothing of the flute and cannot even begin to attempt to think of where it will be." She was now pacing the room in the Pokémon Center, looking to Sapphire and Steven, who were sat in chairs listening to what she had to say intently.

"Is there anything more you know?" Sapphire asked, wishing to gain every little droplet of knowledge about this Pokémon as she could.

"Only that he was said to have created three Pokémon, one who was the master of time, another master of space and the third a master of the void and dimensions. However, this third Pokémon became violent and dangerous to the world, so Arceus banished him into Distortion Realm where he was imprisoned for his behaviour. I'm afraid that's all I know, I've searched high and low for more information on Arceus, it's just not easy to find any solid evidence for the tales told."

"Thank you very much." Steven stood to shake the woman's hand and see her out.

Sapphire crossed her legs and pondered everything Cynthia had said. It wasn't much to go by and it most definitely wasn't substantial enough to help them, but at least they had a better grasp of the Pokémon. So their time and Cynthia's had not been completely wasted. Her PokéNav started ringing and she picked it up. "Hello?"

_"Oh hello Sapphire! I had fabulous news for you darling!" _Wallace's voice was filled with extreme joy, he sounded as though he was dying to tell about his news.

"Did you find a nice guy and settle down?" She smirked, looking out of the window in the Pokémon Center.

_"Sadly my dear, my news isn't quite __**that **__fabulous. No, don't distract me! I found it! I heard tell of a flue which summoned a great Pokémon and it so happened that an old acquaintance of mine was the one who had this item. He was eager to get rid of it; it'd caused him some grief as everyone kept challenging him to a battle for control over this item. I've given it to your Metagross and he's on his way to Sinnoh as we speak!"_

"Oh my, are you serious?!" She almost yelled down the device.

_"Yes! Yes I know, aren't I jus a miracle worker?"_

"I wouldn't say _that _you're still single remember." She laughed at his grumpy sigh.

_"Don't make me regret helping you my dear." _His tone was playful.

"Never in a thousand years." She blew a kiss into the PokéNav and hung up before they got into a long conversation. Steven returned and she turned to him beaming. "Wallace has found the flute, he's sending it over with Silver, my friend Metagross." She was almost bouncing in her seat. "He probably won't take too long to get here; he's quite a fast flyer when he wants to be. But he'll make a lot of noise once he gets here, I don't think he'll much appreciate me not telling him I'm back." The ground shook; Sapphire fell off her seat and laughed. "Here he is!"

She jumped to her feet and rushed outside before the Pokémon brought the whole city down. Once she did, she was faced with a Mega Metagross who had a furious look in his eyes. She stepped backward as it turned to her and glared fiercely at her. It roared at her angrily as Steven exited the Pokémon Center.

"Hi silver!" She made her voice light and cheerful even faced with such a powerful and dangerous Pokémon. "I can explain everything!" She had no time to attempt it as he rushed forward, wrapping all four of his arms around her, his giant spike brushing past her side harmlessly as he tightened the embrace, taking all the oxygen out of her lungs. She wriggled and squirmed, trying to release herself from his tight grasp. "Please, let me go! I…can't…breathe!" She gasped.

It eventually let her go; she collapsed onto the ground and gasped in the oxygen her lungs screamed for. Steven approached and watched the Pokémon changing back into its normal form. This was a shiny Metagross, very rare. Briefly he recalled owning a shiny Beldum, but he could not recall what happened to it. A blue flute floated towards him and he took it, examining the item carefully. It had the strangest shape he had ever seen for a flute, he blew a note through the thing and it whistled through the air gently, its note high but somehow soft.

"So now what?" She asked him, seeing no sign of any great deity travelling down from the sky.

"I know of a place called Spear Pillar here, perhaps we should travel there. Like the Sky Pillar in Hoenn, perhaps there is something there which will enlighten us about the ancient world hidden by time." Steven suggested, glancing at her for her opinion. "The two Metagross would be able to take us up there and take turns so neither is too exhausted when we reach the top of the mountain." He looked over to Mount Coronet which loomed over the horizon.

"Trust you to know about a place on top of a mountain." She smiled at him then turned to Silver, "Come on then, you up for a little hike?" The Pokémon nodded quickly and she took the flute from Steven, wandering into the Pokémon Center to grab her belongings and place the flute into her backpack.

Upon exiting the Pokémon Center, she found Steven waiting, leaning against Silver calmly. She walked up to him and moved, sitting on Silver's back, she whistled and Phantom flew out of nowhere to her side.

"We're headed up to the top of that mountain; can you wait for us there?" She asked, pointing up to the mountain, the Pokémon nodded and took off, flying swiftly up to the mountain. Steven sat on the Metagross' back also and she grasped onto the top of the Pokémon's front leg. "Now, shall we beat him in a race? He's gotten a good head start, you sure you can catch him." She smirked as the Pokémon launched into the air and rocketed towards the mountain - Steven was quite taken aback at the Pokémon's speed - he had expected it to be a little tired after travelling all the way to Sinnoh. Within moments they had passed Phantom, who accepted the challenge of a race and sped up considerably, he caught up to Metagross and for a little while they were neck-and-neck, but Metagross pulled forward and reached the peak before Phantom, landing heavily on the large flat space.

It was cold and the air was thin here, but Sapphire hopped off the metallic beat's back and walked over to an alter with three orbs sitting in it. She didn't dare touch them; she just wanted to look at them as they seemed so unearthly. Returning to Metagross' side once she had had enough of looking at the stones, she retreated to the bottom of the stairs; something guided her to this spot and whispered to her to take out the flute. Steven joined her side and the two Pokémon floated down to their side as she held the flute to her lips and - without understanding how she knew it - played a short tune through the object.

Something rumbled close by. A deep roaring of shifting stones crackled through the silent, still air around this ancient place. The stairs ahead of them elongated, reaching into the clouds above. She shared a confused glance with Steven before she stepped onto the first of the many steps. She felt a little nervous, thinking she would fall from the stairs, she reached for his hand for security and they travelled upwards together. The stairs flattened out at the top, creating a little island of stone in the sky. A little island of stone where a large quadruped Pokémon awaited them, its red eyes gleaming as it examined the group of two people and two Pokémon.


	17. A World Of Mystic Topaz

Sapphire felt something primal urge her to bow to this Pokémon. She inclined her head deeply before raising her eyes again to speak. "Are you the great one Arceus?" She looked the white and yellow Pokémon in the eye.

_"Yes," _Its deep regal voice boomed out, _"I know why you come here Sapphire of Hoenn. I know that you seek something you recently lost. A selfish act seeking power you wish to once again possess. You travelled across raging seas, dragging Steven Stone of Hoenn along with you on the word of a friend. I have watched you for some time. I watched you facing two enraged Pokémon of greater power than you, a mere human could ever possess. Yet after you were given a second life, you still sought more."_ Arceus didn't seem best pleased with Sapphire's ambitions.

"I admit my goals are selfish ones. I could not bear the thought of living without a connection between myself and my friends like I had before. Yet I still seek your wisdom on the matter. Would you be willing to aid me or shall I say my farewell to you now?" She kept her voice polite, not wishing to upset a deity.

_"If I was to refuse to help you, would that stop you from seeking this power?"_

"No, I will still seek what I have lost."

_"Then there is one task you must do. You must unlock the part of your mind which has sealed your power away from use. Enter the dimension of your own imagination and unlock the stored power you have. If you agree I shall send you there, you shall only return once the task is done. Fail this task and you shall be lost to that realm forever. Do you agree to the task at hand?"_

Sapphire thought, how hard could it be to make her way through her own mind? "I agree."

Wavering arms fluttered from the Pokémon as it turned a pale purple colour and used its psychic talents to teleport her away from the platform in the skies. Steven jumped slightly, staring at the spot where she had been a moment ago. He would have advised her against such drastic measures if she had given him the chance to speak.

_"I cannot trust that her intentions are pure." _He looked up to the great Pokémon. _"If she is to gain my trust, then I shall need evidence that her heart is true. You, who have lost your memories of that girl, do you trust her?" _

Steven was shocked that the Pokémon new about his unusual amnesia. He thought on the question, thinking of how she acted around him and of how he felt whenever he saw her. In his head he questioned whether or not he did trust her, but his heart spoke louder. "I do," His voice was steady as he spoke.

_"And you two?" _The deity turned to the Pokémon, he waited a few moments to hear their responses and then spoke once again. _"Then your trust shall be tested. Your lives will not be in too much danger and if after three days she does not save you, then your places will be switched." _Steven was well and truly lost, but he felt his stomach drop as a portal appeared below his feet and he fell into a realm of shadow and fear.

* * *

Sapphire was floating, she looked around her at a bright world, greens and blues chequered the sky, ruby and emerald zigzagged across the ground. She was in a world of make-believe, _her _land of make-believe. Shapes of amethyst and topaz flitted around the world as she swooped down, looking for something sealed away. She sped her pace, drifting in and out of pillars of citrine and onyx, sharply ascending to avoid a great wall of aquamarine pebbles, shining garnet raindrops began falling, vanishing once they hit the ground. Peridot birds fluttered around as amber rays of sunlight poked through gaps in the jade and apatite checkers of the sky.

"Stones? Why is everything stones?" She looked around, taking in zircon bugs scampering over spinel and iolite flowers. As far as her sapphire eyes could see there was a rainbow of stone things, stone creatures, stone surroundings, everything glittered with a beauty only a gemstone could behold.

She touched down on a marcasite road and walked along it, looking for something, but she did not understand where to look. A lapis lazuli creature neared her, amber eyes focussed on her.

"Um, hello, can you help me?" It peered at her curiously but gave no response. "I was told to find power which is barred from me. Do you have any understanding of what that may be?" The biped creature turned its triangular head to face away from her.

_"Find sapphire." _She could not help but be confused at its meaning, the garnet rain had followed her here and she listened to the twinkling noises the stones made as they struck marcasite. The creature pushed upwards and vanished beyond the patchwork sky.

"But I am Sapphire!" She yelled upwards before storming off in the direction he had been facing before his departure. She listened to the clacking tap her shoes made on this stone surface and pushed upwards, flying as it was both quicker and made less noise.

She scowled downwards at the glittering landscape, her mind telling her the names of each and every stone which glittered in her sightline. She paused over a diamond waterfall.

"There are no sapphires." Realization struck her and she swooped downwards. "I have to find the sapphire in this world of gemstones before I can ever leave here. But where would it be?" She spun on the spot and glanced at the waterfall, watching the little gems pouring out of a crack in the mystic topaz cliff-face. "In a world of gemstones, just wait 'til Steven hears about this." She smiled to herself before pushing up and heading for the crack at the top of the waterfall. She managed to squeeze through, avoiding being struck by too many diamonds in the process.

She now stood in a room drenched in darkness; curiously there were no diamonds in here even though they were pouring out of the crack in the wall like there was no end. Jasper of many different colours lined the walls, bloodstone droplets glinting on the floor, she took a cursory glance at the room before the crack sealed up and the little light which spilled in vanished, leaving her in nothing but blackness.

Fear boiled within her chest, she could not see a thing and she was trapped in her own mind, anything could happen here. "Wait! How stupid am I? I'm in my own head - it's like a lucid dream - I've been flying about the place and not realized that anything I think can happen." She closed her eyes and held out her palm, focussing as hard as she could to summon what she pictured in her mind's eye.

She felt a stone settle in her palm, a red light illuminated the insides of her eyelids, upon opening her eyes she stared at a pale blue opal which spilled out bright light, illuminating the new room she stood in. The walls were made of deep rubies, the floors of twinkling emeralds, diamonds and pearls glittered in regular intervals in the walls. She pushed the opal upwards, it began floating up to the ceiling slowly.

"Show me the sapphire." She whispered watching it float upwards, the ceiling was made of all four stones found in this room - creating a mosaic of true beauty - a single sapphire set in the centre of it. "Found you!" She pushed upward herself, flying upwards quickly and touching the stone, what was she to do now? Her thoughts were put on hold as she watched an amethyst glow spill from the sapphire, the light seeped into her fingers and permeated her entire body, the warmth from it filling her and swelling inside her. She felt like it would take over her being, but she settled the raging energy and fought furiously to keep her own mind sane.

Her surroundings echoed the internal struggle, the room shook and began crumbling into glittering fragments, a few of which raining down on her head. She steeled her focus and pushed the last of the energy down so it could not take control of her mind, once she gasped and finally had control over it, the room steadied, the beautiful mosaic tarnished by great chunks missing. She frowned and restored the image with her mind, the only piece which was no missing was the sapphire, but there was no sign of that anywhere except in her eyes.

A portal opened and she stepped through it without fear, she knew it would take her back to her own world.

Stepping out into a world which was not glittering and glimmering was a bit of a relief; Sapphire hadn't quite known what to make of the gemstone universe she had just existed in. She took a deep breath of the cold thin air here, but as she stared around something clicked in her mind. The only creature up here was Arceus, patiently waiting where he had been standing when she left.

"Where's Steven?" She demanded, "And Silver and Phantom, where did they go?" She looked down the staircase, not seeing them on the mountain anywhere. Feeling her psychic powers brewing she scanned the mountainside looking for them then widened her search to the entire region. "Tell me where he is!"

_"Your friends didn't believe that you could succeed in your mission to unlock your mind. They offered themselves to ensure you gained your powers back." _

"But I succeeded, I got my power back, bring them back!" She squared up to the deity, feeling no fear bubble within her, she was strong again.

_"I cannot, a deal is a deal. If you wish to save them you will have to do so yourself. Your friends are in the realm of darkness and woes. You have three days or your friends will be lost forever. However, should you save them; your powers will be locked away forever."_

She glared at the Pokémon, feeling energy building up in her fists; she was angry, furious that this creature would dare to banish her friends to a different realm. But instead of attacking as she wished to do, she turned on her heel and made her way down the mountainside. This was going to be a long journey with just her; a spell of loneliness grasped her heart, only resolving her determination all the more. She wouldn't rest until her friends were safe and back home, regardless of the consequences she would face.


	18. Jet In The Mist

Sapphire sprinted down the side of Mount Coronet, her anger and determination pushing her where her fears would have normally prevented her from going. She leapt off cliffs and dived through the air, her power guiding her like it had never done before. In any other scenario she would have felt free, with the wind tugging at her hair which billowed out behind her as she glided safely down the mountainside. But with the knowledge of the torment her friends was enduring, she felt caged in, only one path was open to her, the one which took her to another dimension.

Once she reached the base of the mountain, she found her feet didn't want to stop running, she continued across the rugged landscape until she nearly crashed into a statue to the east of Eterna City. A shock of blond hair alerted her to the presence of Cynthia.

"Oh, good, just who I wanted to see. Now I need answers and I need them fast!" Sapphire steadied herself to a halt and faced the bewildered Champion. "Is there a way to get into an alternate dimension? Steven and my friends have been sent there by- well it doesn't matter."

Cynthia, to the astonishment of Sapphire, seemed perfectly capable of answering. "They say the three lake guardians hold the secret to entering the distortion Realm. However, there have been disturbances in the lakes of late. Strangers wearing spacesuits have been seen around them and preventing people from entering the lake areas."

"Then I'll force my way in. I just need to find a way to get to them quickly." Sapphire looked into the sky; it seemed to be cloudy from horizon to horizon, perfect. "Please excuse me, I must be getting off." Something whispered in Sapphire's mind, telling her she could perform the impossible.

She rose into the sky slowly, when she felt stable enough she shot up into the cloud cover. Cynthia was left on the ground, gaping at the girl who had vanished into the puffy grey clouds.

* * *

Sapphire checked her PokéNav Plus whilst in the air - she was getting directions to one of the lakes - she decided to visit the eastern river first, to see whether or not these strange spacemen were really blocking the lakes off. Sapphire noted that she was drawing close now; she could see the body of water below her. She descended steadily, drawing ever closer to the lake until…

**_BOOM!_**

Sapphire toppled through the air as a great column of water burst up around her. She fell towards the Earth before she knew what had happened. Just before impact, Sapphire buffeted her landing, making the rocks beneath her fly in all directions. She still landed heavily, the wind knocked from her lungs forcefully as she smacked into the ground, but the landing could have been much worse.

Gasping and wheezing, Sapphire pulled herself to her feet and looked around herself. Thankfully, no one had seen her landing amongst all the chaos of the explosion which had apparently drained this whole area of the crystal clear waters which had swirled around here not a minute ago. Sapphire hid behind an outcropping of rocks as she caught her breath again. She watched as the spacemen marched in, setting up posts here and there to keep an eye out for intruders or meddling folk.

Sapphire didn't trust these people, their uniform reminded her of Team Magma and Team Aqua for a bizarre reason, she assumed they were up to no good and wondered whether or not they wished to harm the Pokémon guardian here.

"Spread out, our orders are to capture Azelf alive." A man with dark blue hair stormed past the place Sapphire crouched hidden. Two grunts fanned out from him, one nearing Sapphire, put passed her by without noticing her there. She crouched and darted to another cropping of rocks, in this fashion she made her way to the cave the man had entered.

Sapphire paused just inside the cave, the cries of distress from the Pokémon shocking her to her core. The poor Pokémon was yelling and fighting as hard as it was able to, but the man's Pokémon had it cornered now and he threw the PokéBall. By the time Sapphire focussed, the Pokémon had been captured.

"And who do you think you are?" He turned around slowly and stared her down. She glared at him with dark anger boiling, today wasn't a good day.

"I'll be the one to take that Pokémon off your hands."

"Tough talk for a girl with no Pokémon." She looked down at her belt - of course she didn't have any Pokémon - Arceus had banished them to another realm. Now what could she do?

"I don't need any Pokémon to deal with you. You don't look so tough." She crossed her arms and rolled her eyes at him.

He grinned wickedly. "Is that how you see things? A simple spout of fisticuffs and you'll walk from here with Azelf?"

"Yep," Sapphire chirped as if she was fully in control of the situation. She could feel desperation bubble within her, but refused to let it show, pushing it and repressing it from her features. "I'll let you make the first move."

"Fine with me." He tossed a PokéBall; from it burst a purple toad-like Pokémon which stood hunched slightly. "Now move or my friend here will force you to."

Sapphire spread her arms out to either side, making herself a target for the Pokémon, she really had no idea why she did this, and regretted it the instant she did it. The Pokémon rushed forward smashing into her with a fierce Brick Break attack. It hit her directly in the stomach, she flew through the air, shooting out of the cave and crashing down onto a rock a few metres away from the cave entrance.

"I do admire your courage, but your idiocy stands out more than bravery." The man smirked as he recalled his Pokémon and strolled off, shocked grunts following suit without asking any questions.

Sapphire rolled over once they had left, coughing violently to try and refill her lungs and negate the aching pains which shot up and down her entity. She balled her hands into fists and glared down at the stone beneath her. "How am I going to save my friends if I'm so weak I can't stand up to one scrawny guy?!" She growled, pushing herself up to stand. "I will not let my friends suffer an eternity in hell because of me! I'll find that git and I'll take the Pokémon away from him!"

* * *

A cold claw touched his face gently; Steven opened his eyes to see his Metagross hovering over him. Blinking, he pushed himself up, looking around at the strangest scene around him.

He was greeted by a waterfall which ran up instead of crashed down. Ledges and platforms led around him in an elaborate labyrinth around this strange place. In the distance a blue-purple fog veiled everything, making the surroundings even more eerie. A shrieking cry sounded somewhere in the fog beyond perception, it sounded so close yet so far. What had he gotten into this time? All for a girl he didn't remember.

"You all trust her right? I'm starting to doubt whether I should have agreed to this." He looked around at the three Pokémon who gathered around him. Each simultaneously nodded to him; all of them had complete faith in that girl. He had no memory of her other than those they had made here in Sinnoh, so why did he feel the same as these Pokémon?

He rose to his feet, looking around himself, wanting to explore this strange land. He hopped onto a stepping stone in the air and moved into the unknown.

Beyond the fog, a Pokémon of darkness with piercing blue eyes watched its new prey…


End file.
